DHS Testimony from (CBP) U.S. Customs and Border Protection Feedhttp://www.dhs.gov/news-releases/%28CBP%29-U.S.-Customs-and-Border-Protection
enWritten testimony of PLCY and CBP for a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing titled “Visa Waiver Program: Implications for U.S. National Security”http://www.dhs.gov/news/2015/03/12/written-testimony-plcy-and-cbp-senate-committee-homeland-security-and-governmental
<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-entity-property-field field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Release Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">March 12, 2015</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>342 Dirksen Senate Office Building</p>
<p>Chairman Johnson, Senator Carper and distinguished Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).</p>
<p>The VWP permits nationals from 38 countries to travel to the United States for business or tourism without a visa for up to 90 days, provided they meet certain requirements and provide us with information we need for our security. The VWP enables more than twenty million of these travelers to travel without visas to the United States each year, if they receive authorization to do so after being screened against terrorist, criminal, and immigrant databases. In exchange for participation in the VWP, countries must adhere to stringent security cooperation standards that are not typical of other nations. Additionally, DHS itself maintains several layers of security to identify any possible risks, including rigorous vetting by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for all travelers flying into and out of the United States, including those traveling under the auspices of the VWP. CBP serves as the frontline in defending America’s borders from terrorism and protects our economic security by facilitating lawful international travel and trade. Not only does the VWP promote legitimate trade and travel it also promotes international travel security initiatives and enhances law enforcement and security cooperation with foreign governments. We will elaborate on the evolution of the VWP and the security benefits that it provides throughout this hearing.</p>
<h2>Background</h2>
<p>Congress first authorized the VWP as a pilot program in 1986 to facilitate low-risk travel to the United States, boost international trade and cultural links, and promote more efficient use of consular resources. Since the program’s inception, Congress and the Executive Branch have worked together to implement a number of security enhancements. Over time the U.S. Government put new requirements in place to tighten passport security standards and increase the frequency with which the U.S. Government carries out assessments of countries’ compliance with VWP security standards. The VWP has evolved into an important tool for increasing security standards, advancing information sharing, strengthening international partnerships, and facilitating legitimate trade and travel to the United States.</p>
<p>The Secure Travel and Counterterrorism Partnership Act of 2007, which was enacted as part of the Implementing the Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (the “9/11 Act”), transformed the VWP from a program that evaluated security threats on a country-by-country basis to a program with the added capability to screen individual travelers for potential threats that they may pose to the security or welfare of the United States and its citizens. In addition, the 9/11 Act mandated more robust information sharing between the United States and its VWP partners. Since the enactment of the 9/11 Act, DHS and its partner agencies have implemented those new requirements.</p>
<h2>Rigorous Travel Screening</h2>
<p>Independent from the security partnerships strengthened through the VWP, DHS retains strong mechanisms for vetting any individuals traveling under the program. CBP operates the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA),<a href="#fn1" name="fn1r" title="ESTA is not required for citizens of countries under other visa exempt authority, such as Canada. Citizens of countries under visa exempt authority entering the U.S. via air and sea are subjected to CBP’s vetting and inspection processes prior to their departure for the United States and inspection prior to admission. In the land environment, they are subjected to CBP processing upon arrival at a U.S. port of entry." id="fn1r"><sup>1</sup></a> a web-based system through which eligible individuals traveling under the VWP must apply for travel authorization prior to boarding an aircraft destined for the United States. Through ESTA, CBP conducts enhanced vetting of VWP applicants in advance of travel to the United States in order to assess whether they are eligible to travel under the VWP or could pose a national security risk or public safety threat. Through interagency information sharing agreements, CBP provides other U.S. Government agencies ESTA application data for law enforcement and administrative purposes to help assess risk and make a determination about an alien’s eligibility to travel under the VWP without a visa. Additionally, CBP requires air carriers to verify that VWP travelers have a valid authorization before boarding an aircraft bound for the United States.</p>
<p>ESTA has been a highly effective security and vetting tool that has enabled DHS to deny travel under the VWP to thousands of prospective travelers who may pose a risk to the United States, prior to those individuals boarding a U.S. bound aircraft. Since ESTA’s inception in August 2008, CBP has approved over 80 million ESTA applications and has denied over 4,300 ESTA applications as a result of vetting against the U.S. Government’s known/suspected terrorist watchlist. During that same period of time, CBP has also denied over 35,000 ESTA applications for individuals who applied for an ESTA using a passport that had been reported as lost or stolen. ESTA applications are also subject to continuous re-vetting, which means that even though an applicant has an approved authorization for travel, that authorization is continuously reviewed throughout its validity period for new derogatory information and is subject to further review and subsequent denial if necessary.</p>
<p>In response to increasing concerns regarding foreign fighters attempting to enter the United States through the VWP, DHS strengthened the security of the program through enhancements to ESTA. These improvements are designed to address the current foreign fighter threat, and provide an additional layer of security for the VWP. DHS determined that these ESTA enhancements would improve the Department’s ability to screen prospective VWP travelers and more accurately and effectively identify those who pose a security risk to the United States. In addition, these enhancements to ESTA help the Department facilitate adjudication of ESTA applications. By requiring ESTA applicants to provide additional information, DHS can more precisely identify ESTA applicants who may be known or suspected terrorists. These enhancements also reduce the number of inconclusive matches that would previously have resulted in an ESTA denial.</p>
<p>No single ESTA data element or security solution will completely address the challenge of preventing <i>mala fide</i> travel to the United States. It is the combined totality of ESTA alongside other DHS programs that forms our layered approach to strengthen security and help the U.S. Government address evolving threats. These layers of security are in place for visa holders as well as VWP travelers.</p>
<p>DHS vets travelers at several points along the travel continuum:</p>
<ul style="margin-left: 25px;"><li>During the travel planning phase, when a traveler seeks a visa or ESTA;</li>
<li>Pre-departure, when a traveler seeks to board a commercial carrier or vessel, via collection and analysis of travel data (API/PNR) and liaison partnerships focused on travel security through the Immigration Advisory Program teams in certain VWP countries;</li>
<li>Upon arrival at a port of entry, when a traveler seeks admission into the United States, including arrival processing programs such as the Counterterrorism Response (CTR) protocols;</li>
<li>Partnerships with the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC), the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and National Joint Terrorism Task Force (NJTTF) augment the screening process throughout;</li>
<li>During the period of stay in the United States, when a non-U.S. person travels by air within the United States; and</li>
<li>Upon departure, when a traveler leaves the United States.</li>
</ul><p>In addition, DHS relies on domestic and international criminal records (e.g., investigative case files domestically, and INTERPOL notices internationally) to identify potential criminal movements. Moreover, DHS, through the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) as well as CBP, implements rigorous physical security requirements in the form of airport checkpoint and airline security standards, as well as through physical detection methodologies (e.g., drug sniffing canines) at ports of entry. DHS, including the U.S. Coast Guard, cooperates with commercial carriers and vessels to also review information about travelers, including their identity and travel documents, prior to arrival at a U.S. port of entry.</p>
<div style="font-size: 80%;">
<hr style="width: 30%; text-align: left; margin-left: 0px;" /><a href="#fn1r" name="fn1" id="fn1"><sup>1</sup></a> ESTA is not required for citizens of countries under other visa exempt authority, such as Canada. Citizens of countries under visa exempt authority entering the U.S. via air and sea are subjected to CBP’s vetting and inspection processes prior to their departure for the United States and inspection prior to admission. In the land environment, they are subjected to CBP processing upon arrival at a U.S. port of entry.</div>
<p> </p>
<h2>Thorough and Regular Reviews of VWP Countries</h2>
<p>DHS—in cooperation with other departments and agencies—conducts intensive reviews of VWP countries focusing on five core areas: counterterrorism, law enforcement, border security, immigration and travel document security. These reviews take place at least once every two years and sometimes annually, last six to nine months, and incorporate participation from the Department of State, Department of Justice, and the Intelligence Community. Often they include site visits to the VWP country being reviewed as well. Whenever DHS identifies any recommendations for improvement or a specific remedial action, DHS follows up to ensure changes are carried out. In between the formal review cycles, DHS regularly monitors security, law enforcement, and immigration enforcement issues in all VWP countries to ensure continuing compliance with the program requirements.</p>
<p>Here are several unclassified examples of changes made by other countries as a result of DHS’s intensive reviews:</p>
<ul style="margin-left: 25px;"><li>Prior to a VWP designation, DHS required one candidate country both to change its passport numbering system and to agree to accept the more rapid return of individuals with final orders of removals from the United States.</li>
<li>DHS secured from another country new legislation on the reporting of lost and stolen passports to its domestic authorities and obtained a series of commitments to improve information sharing among its domestic law enforcement agencies.</li>
<li>As recently as 2014, DHS placed one country on provisional VWP status due to issues related to passport fraud. During the period of provisional status, DHS is requiring the country in question to take certain actions to address concerns with passport fraud.</li>
</ul><h2>Information Sharing Requirements</h2>
<p>Turning to other security measures required of VWP countries, the 9/11 Act mandates that VWP countries enter into agreements with the United States to share information regarding whether citizens and nationals of those countries represent a threat to the security or welfare of the United States and its citizens, as well as to share information on lost and stolen passports. DHS, with the support of our interagency partners, has determined that the preferred mechanisms to meet the information sharing requirements with VWP countries include: a bilateral Homeland Security Presidential Directive-6 (HSPD-6) Arrangement to exchange terrorism screening information; a bilateral Preventing and Combating Serious Crime (PCSC) Agreement to exchange information on possible perpetrators of serious crimes; and an exchange of diplomatic notes memorializing the intent to report lost and stolen passport data according to INTERPOL’s standards.</p>
<p>When certain longstanding cooperation between the United States and a VWP country demonstrates an equivalent or superior level of information sharing, the U.S. Government may deem that to be a sufficient substitute for the above mentioned agreements. Without the leverage the VWP provides, the U.S. Government likely would not receive the same amount and quality of information. The information that VWP countries provide makes DHS pre-departure vetting, such as ESTA applications, even more valuable.</p>
<ul style="margin-left: 25px;"><li>All VWP countries have concluded an exchange of diplomatic notes with the United States confirming their intent to report lost and stolen passport data to the United States via INTERPOL or another acceptable mechanism. Furthermore, VWP countries have provided more than 70 percent of the total records in INTERPOL’s Stolen and Lost Travel Document Database. DHS screens every ESTA application and every arriving traveler against this database. DHS has also seen a sharp decline in border encounters of lost and stolen travel documents after having mandated these provisions. This is particularly important in the context of the Syria and Iraq conflicts where terrorist groups may seek to obtain such documents for travel.</li>
<li>PCSC Agreements establish the framework for a 21st century method of law enforcement cooperation by providing each party with electronic access to the fingerprint databases of the other party on a case-by-case basis. All VWP countries have signed a PCSC Agreement or its equivalent. The first exchanges of biometric information under the PCSC Agreements took place with a select group of countries in January 2012. Since then, DHS and the Department of Justice have begun exchanging information through an interim mechanism with several pilot countries. Through the first exchanges of data, DHS and the Department of Justice received actionable information that was previously unknown to U.S. law enforcement authorities.</li>
<li>The Terrorist Screening Center implements HSPD-6 arrangements on behalf of the U.S. Government. Information provided through the HSPD-6 arrangements has enhanced DHS’s traveler screening capabilities and bolstered the Department’s ability to prevent known and suspected terrorists from traveling to the United States.</li>
</ul><p>Information the United States provides VWP member countries under these agreements also helps those governments identify and disrupt criminal and terrorist travel to, from, and within their own borders.</p>
<h2>Evolution of the VWP</h2>
<p>Let us now turn to additional ways that DHS is addressing the concern that foreign terrorist fighters who are citizens of VWP countries might attempt to travel to the United States under the VWP. Even with layers of security, including pre-travel ESTA vetting of all prospective VWP travelers and the regular sharing of watchlists and other information on known and suspected terrorists with VWP countries, DHS is driving the program to respond even better to emerging threats and thus become even more secure.</p>
<p>As noted above, DHS has already taken administrative action to strengthen the security protections of the VWP by enhancing ESTA data collection, changes that went into effect on November 3, 2014. The acceptance of these ESTA enhancements by VWP countries, in particular our European partners, is both an indication of the seriousness with which they take the threat of returning terrorist fighters and a testament to the global security partnership the VWP promotes. As has been widely reported in the media, in recent months several European and other countries have also taken steps to strengthen their abilities to detect and prevent the travel of terrorist fighters. Furthermore, the European Union as a whole is taking steps to address this new threat. DHS has shared lessons learned and discussed some of these practical steps with its international partners. DHS continues to review the security safeguards of the VWP and is prepared to consider both administrative and legislative steps that might achieve our goals of even stronger security for the United States and increased security partnerships with VWP countries, while maintaining the economic benefits of the VWP. We will continue to partner with Congress to explore ways to enhance program’s security requirements while promoting secure travel to the United States via the VWP.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>DHS uses mutually reinforcing layers at all points in the travel continuum to secure VWP travel to the United States. The DHS security posture is flexible, and will continue to evolve as threats warrant and environments change. The VWP and all its elements are a vital part of a robust travel security system. They include the ESTA requirement; the mandatory bilateral information sharing on potential terrorists and criminals; sharing of lost and stolen passport data; thorough inspections of VWP countries’ airport, border control, and identity and travel document security standards; and vigorous, ongoing monitoring of changing conditions in VWP countries.</p>
<p>We testify before you today as the United States and many of its VWP partners consider and respond to the new and evolving threat posed to us by foreign fighters traveling to or from the battlefield. DHS and all VWP countries have a joint stake in identifying foreign fighters due to common security interests. DHS will continue to work with our interagency partners, international partners, and industry partners to address emerging threats and identify potential security vulnerabilities. DHS is committed to facilitating legitimate trade and travel while maintaining the highest standards of security and border protection.</p>
<p>Chairman Johnson, Ranking Member Carper, and distinguished Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today and for your consideration of this important topic. It would be our pleasure to address any questions that you might have.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-review-date field-type-datetime field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Review Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2015-03-10T00:00:00-04:00">March 10, 2015</span></div></div></div>Thu, 12 Mar 2015 04:00:00 +0000erik.bugler13742 at http://www.dhs.govWritten testimony CBP Commissioner for a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing titled “Preparedness and Response to Public Health Threats: How Ready Are We?”http://www.dhs.gov/news/2014/11/19/written-testimony-cbp-commissioner-senate-committee-homeland-security-and
<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-entity-property-field field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Release Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">November 19, 2014</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>342 Dirksen Senate Office Building</p>
<p>Chairman Carper, Ranking Member Coburn, and distinguished members of the Committee I appreciate the opportunity to discuss U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) role in the Federal government’s Ebola response.</p>
<p>The 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa is the largest in history – mainly focused on Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. In the midst of this crisis in West Africa, it is important to remember that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated that the risk of a widespread Ebola outbreak in the United States is very low. CBP, as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) overall strategy, is engaged on a daily basis with DHS interagency partners to prepare for and respond to Ebola and other potential threats to public health.</p>
<p>As you know, DHS is responsible for securing our nation’s borders and assisting the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in safeguarding the American public from communicable diseases that threaten to traverse our borders. In doing so, DHS is committed to ensuring that our responses to the Ebola epidemic are conducted consistent with established civil rights and civil liberties protections. DHS’s Office of Health Affairs (OHA) is at the intersection of homeland security and public health, better known as health security. OHA provides medical and health expertise to DHS components and senior leadership, and is helping to coordinate with components and provide them with medical advice regarding the Department’s efforts in preparing for and responding to Ebola. In today’s remarks, I will provide an overview of the Department’s efforts to protect the American people from Ebola, and CBP’s specific efforts within ports of entry to identify and respond to travelers who may pose a threat to public health.</p>
<p>As the Nation’s unified border security agency, CBP is responsible for securing our Nation’s borders while facilitating the flow of legitimate international travel and trade that is so vital to our Nation’s economy. Within this broad responsibility, CBP’s priority mission remains to prevent terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the United States. CBP also plays an important role in limiting the introduction, transmission, and spread of serious communicable diseases from foreign countries.</p>
<h2>Targeting, Screening and Observation Protocols</h2>
<p>Although we have recently seen a very small number of Ebola virus cases in the United States, the CDC believes that the U.S. clinical and public health systems will work effectively to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus, and CDC has provided support to those systems to prevent the further introduction, transmission and spread of communicable diseases into the United States. DHS has executed a number of measures to minimize the risk of those sick with Ebola entering the United States, and we take a layered approach to ensure there are varying points at which an ill individual could be identified. To this end, DHS is also focused on protecting the air traveling public and taking steps to ensure that travelers with communicable diseases like Ebola are identified, isolated, and quickly and safely referred to medical personnel.</p>
<p>CBP developed targeting rules that analyze advance passenger travel to identify travelers whose travel originated in or transited through Ebola-affected countries. Additionally, CBP collaborates with our international partners, to identify individuals traveling through key international gateways whose travel matches predetermined risk factors. This international engagement provides valuable opportunities and mutual benefits to expand our knowledge of individuals whose travel originated in, or transited through, an Ebola-affected country.</p>
<p>It is important to note that the CDC has worked closely with affected countries, and CBP has provided support and assistance, to ensure that all outbound travelers from the areas affected by the West Africa Ebola outbreak are screened for Ebola symptoms before departure from those countries. CDC provides “Do Not Board” recommendations to CBP and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regarding individuals who may be infected with a highly contagious disease, present a threat to public health, and should be prevented from traveling to the United States via commercial aircraft. TSA is performing vetting of all airline passengers coming to, departing from or flying within the U.S. to identify matches to the “Do Not Board” list and flag matched individuals’ records in the Secure Flight system to prevent the issuance of a boarding pass. TSA is also supporting CDC requirements to identify all passenger reservations on flights where it has been determined that one or more passengers present an Ebola risk, such as when passengers have traveled from the affected African areas and have exhibited Ebola symptoms.</p>
<p>CBP and the CDC have closely coordinated to develop policies, procedures, and protocols to identify travelers to the United States who may have a communicable disease, responding in a manner that minimizes risk to the public. These pre-existing procedures – applied in the land, sea, and air environments – have been utilized collaboratively by both agencies on a number of occasions with positive results.</p>
<p>As a standard part of every inspection, CBP officers observe all passengers as they arrive in the United States for overt signs of illness, and question travelers, as appropriate, at all U.S. ports of entry. Officers look for overt signs of illness and can obtain additional information from the travelers during the inspection interview. If a traveler is identified with overt signs of a communicable disease of public health significance, the traveler is isolated from the traveling public and referred to CDC’s Border Health Public Health Officers or state public health authorities for medical evaluation.</p>
<p>On October 21, DHS announced travel restrictions in the form of additional screening and protective measures at our ports of entry for travelers from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa. As of October 22, all passengers arriving in the United States who are identified as having recently traveled to, from, or through Liberia, Sierra Leone, or Guinea are required to fly into one of five airports – New York John F. Kennedy; Washington Dulles; Newark; Chicago O’Hare; and Atlanta International Airport. On November 17, Mali was included in the list of countries for which recent travel is being identified. CBP utilizes advance passenger information to identify those individuals who may have traveled to, from, or through an Ebola-affected country and are attempting to travel to the United States through a non-designated airport. In the event that such an individual is identified, CBP works closely with the airlines to route the traveler to one of the five designated airports with as little travel disruption as possible.</p>
<p>At these five airports, all travelers from the affected countries undergo enhanced screening measures consisting of targeted questions and a temperature check, through the use of non-contact thermal thermometers, seeking to determine whether the passengers are experiencing symptoms or may have been exposed to Ebola. Detailed contact information is also collected in the event the CDC needs to contact them in the future. If there is reason to believe a passenger has been exposed to Ebola, either through the questionnaire, temperature check, or overt symptoms, CBP refers the passenger to CDC for further evaluation. The CDC has surged staff to these airports to support this mission requirement.</p>
<p>In addition to these measures, CBP officers are asking all passengers traveling on a passport from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Mali, regardless of where they traveled from, whether they have been in one of the Ebola-affected countries in the prior 21 days. If the traveler has been in one of these countries in the prior 21 days, he or she will be referred for additional screening and, if necessary, CDC or other medical personnel in the area will be contacted pursuant to existing protocols.</p>
<p>The U.S. Coast Guard is also monitoring vessels known to be inbound from Ebola-affected countries, and is providing information to the Captain of the Port, District, and CDC representatives.</p>
<p>The CDC maintains Federal jurisdiction to determine whether to isolate or quarantine potentially infected arrivals. DHS personnel may be called upon to support the enforcement of the CDC’s determinations, and we stand ready to help.</p>
<h2>Information Sharing and Training</h2>
<p>DHS has prioritized sharing information and raising awareness as important elements in combating the spread of Ebola, and CBP has a unique opportunity to deliver critical information to targeted travelers from the affected countries in ports of entry. Secretary Johnson recently directed CBP to distribute health advisories to all travelers arriving in the U.S. from the Ebola-affected countries. These advisories provide the traveler with information on Ebola, health signs to look for, and information for their doctor should they need to seek medical attention in the future.</p>
<p>CBP and TSA have posted messages from the CDC at select airport locations that provide awareness on how to prevent the spread of infectious disease, typical symptoms of Ebola, and instructions to call a doctor if the traveler becomes ill in the future.</p>
<p>We also share information with our nongovernmental and state and local partners. TSA is engaging with industry partners and domestic and foreign air carriers to provide awareness on the current outbreak, and has issued an Information Circular to air carriers reinforcing the CDC’s message on Ebola and providing guidance on identifying potential travelers with Ebola.</p>
<p>OHA, through the National Biosurveillance Integration Center, is continuing to monitor the outbreak to coordinate information in response to the event. These reports on biological events are disseminated to more than 15,000 Federal, State, and local users, many of whom work in the public health sector or support 78 fusion centers across the Nation, helping to ensure that the most up-to-date information is available.</p>
<p>DHS is committed to ensuring that our own employees have up-to-date and accurate information. We have provided our own personnel with background information on the current outbreak, information on the regions of importance; symptoms of the virus and mode of transmission; and operational procedures and precautions for processing travelers showing signs of illness. CBP field personnel will be kept up to date on national, regional and location-specific information on Ebola preparedness and response measures through regular field musters.</p>
<p>All CBP officers and agriculture specialists receive public health training, which teaches personnel to identify symptoms and characteristics of ill travelers. CBP also provides operational training and guidance to frontline personnel on how to respond to travelers with potential illness, including referring individuals who display signs of illness to CDC quarantine officers and assisting CDC with implementation of its isolation and quarantine protocols. CBP officers are trained to employ universal precautions, an infection control approach developed by the CDC, when they encounter individuals with overt symptoms of illness or potentially contaminated items in examinations of baggage and cargo. Universal precautions assume that every direct contact with body fluids is infectious and requires exposed employees to respond accordingly.</p>
<p>DHS and CBP are implementing additional precautions and deploying additional personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect personnel at ports of entry. OHA and CDC have provided guidance to field personnel on the requirements of PPE, including proper procedures for putting on, taking off, and wearing PPE (which is available for employees at these airports along with instructions for use). CBP has provided guidance to the field on baggage inspection for international travelers from impacted countries, proper procedures for inspection and handling of prohibited meat products, and proper safeguarding and disposal of garbage from all inbound international flights.</p>
<p>Enhanced Ebola screening training, required of all CBP officers and agriculture specialists, includes a web-based video course on the proper use of personal protective equipment differences in PPE requirements when in proximity of symptomatic versus asymptomatic travelers. CBP senior medical advisors, U.S. Public Health Service Federal Occupational Health, and CDC officials are providing onsite training on inbound enhanced screening for Ebola at select ports of entry. TSA also ensures that its employees are adequately trained and, where appropriate, are provided personal protective equipment. CBP is continuously engaged with CDC and other agencies involved in Ebola prevention and stands ready to meet future training needs as they arise. The health and safety of CBP employees is also our priority as we carry out this critical mission.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>The Department of Homeland Security has worked closely with its interagency partners to develop a layered approach to identifying ill travelers and protecting the air traveling public. DHS and CBP are always assessing the measures we have in place and continues to look at any additional actions that can be taken to ensure the safety of the American people. I look forward to working with you to address this problem collaboratively. I will continue to closely monitor the Ebola developments, and will evaluate additional measures as needed.</p>
<p>Thank you for your time and interest in this important issue. I look forward to answering your questions.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-review-date field-type-datetime field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Review Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2014-11-17T00:00:00-05:00">November 17, 2014</span></div></div></div>Wed, 19 Nov 2014 05:00:00 +0000erik.bugler13078 at http://www.dhs.govStatement for the record of OHA and CBP for a House Committee on Homeland Security field hearing titled “Ebola in the Homeland: The Importance of Effective International, Federal, State and Local Coordination”http://www.dhs.gov/news/2014/11/06/statement-record-oha-and-cbp-house-committee-homeland-security-field-hearing-titled-
<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-entity-property-field field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Release Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">November 6, 2014</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>Hearing date: October 10, 2014<br />Dallas, Texas</p>
<p>Chairman McCaul, Ranking Member Thompson, distinguished members of the Committee, and the Texas Delegation, we appreciate the opportunity to submit this statement on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) and the Office of Health Affairs’ (OHA) roles in the Federal government’s Ebola response.</p>
<p>The 2014 Ebola epidemic is the largest in history with devastating impacts in multiple West African countries – the hardest hit being Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. In the midst of this public health event, it is important to remember that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated that the risk of a widespread Ebola outbreak in the United States is very low. OHA and CBP, as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) overall strategy, are engaged on a daily basis with DHS interagency partners to prepare for and respond to Ebola and other potential threats to public health.</p>
<p>As you know, DHS is responsible for securing our nation’s borders and assisting the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in safeguarding the American public from communicable diseases that threaten to traverse our borders. In doing so, DHS is committed to ensuring that our responses to the Ebola epidemic are conducted consistent with established civil rights and civil liberties protections. OHA is at the intersection of homeland security and public health, better known as health security. OHA provides medical and health expertise to DHS components and senior leadership, and is helping to coordinate with Components and provide them with medical advice regarding the Department’s efforts in preparing for and responding to Ebola. In today’s remarks, we will provide an overview of the Department’s efforts to protect the American people from Ebola, and CBP’s specific efforts within ports of entry to identify and respond to travelers who may pose a threat to public health.</p>
<p>As the Nation’s unified border security agency, CBP is responsible for securing our Nation’s borders while facilitating the flow of legitimate international travel and trade that is so vital to our Nation’s economy. Within this broad responsibility, CBP’s priority mission remains to prevent terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the United States. CBP also plays an important role in limiting the introduction, transmission, and spread of serious communicable diseases from foreign countries.</p>
<p>The President has been focused every day on this response and has stated to his senior health, homeland security, and national security advisors that the epidemic in West Africa is a top national security priority, and that we will continue to do everything necessary to address it. Because of the steps we have taken, the President reiterated that he is confident that the chances of an outbreak in the United States are extraordinarily low.</p>
<h2>Screening and Observation Protocols</h2>
<p>CBP and the CDC have closely coordinated to develop policies, procedures, and protocols to identify travelers to the United States who may have a communicable disease, responding in a manner that minimizes risk to the public. These pre-existing procedures – applied in the land, sea, and air environments – have been utilized collaboratively by both agencies on a number of occasions with positive results.</p>
<p>As a standard part of every inspection, CBP officers observe all passengers as they arrive in the United States for overt signs of illness, and question travelers, as appropriate, at all U.S. ports of entry. CBP officers are trained in illness recognition by the CDC. Officers look for overt signs of illness and can obtain additional information from the travelers during the inspection interview. If a traveler is identified with overt signs of a communicable disease of public health significance, the traveler is isolated from the traveling public and referred to CDC’s Regional Quarantine Officers or local public health for medical evaluation.</p>
<p>It is important to note that the CDC has worked closely with affected countries, and CBP has provided support and assistance, to ensure that all outbound travelers from the areas affected by the West Africa Ebola outbreak are screened for Ebola symptoms before departure. CDC provides “Do Not Board” recommendations to CBP and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regarding individuals who may be infected with a highly contagious disease, present a threat to public health, and should be prevented from traveling via commercial aircraft. TSA is performing vetting of all airline passengers coming to, departing from or flying within the U.S. to identify matches to the “Do Not Board” list and flag matched individuals’ records in the Secure Flight system to prevent the issuance of a boarding pass. TSA is also supporting CDC requirements to identify all passenger reservations on flights where it has been determined that one or more passengers present an Ebola risk, such as when passengers have traveled from the affected African areas and have exhibited Ebola symptoms.</p>
<h2>Additional Ebola Screening Measures</h2>
<p>Although we have recently seen the first cases of Ebola virus in the United States, the CDC believes that the U.S. clinical and public health systems will work effectively to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus. DHS has executed a number of measures to minimize the risk of those sick with Ebola entering the United States, and we take a layered approach to ensure there are varying points at which an ill individual could be identified. To this end, DHS is also focused on protecting the air traveling public and taking steps to ensure that travelers with communicable diseases like Ebola are identified, isolated, and quickly and safely referred to medical personnel.</p>
<p>On October 21, DHS announced travel restrictions in the form of additional screening and protective measures at our ports of entry for travelers from the three Ebola-affected countries in West Africa. As of October 22, all passengers arriving in the United States whose travel originated in Liberia, Sierra Leone, or Guinea are required to fly into one of five airports including New York John F. Kennedy; Washington Dulles; Newark; Chicago O’Hare; and Atlanta International Airport. DHS is working closely with the airlines to implement these restrictions with minimal travel disruption.</p>
<p>At these five airports, all travelers from the affected countries undergo enhanced screening measures consisting of targeted questions and a temperature check, through the use of non-contact thermal thermometers, seeking to determine whether the passengers are experiencing symptoms or may have been exposed to Ebola. Detailed contact information is also collected in the event the CDC needs to contact them in the future. If there is reason to believe a passenger has been exposed to Ebola, either through the questionnaire, temperature check, or overt symptoms, CBP refers the passenger to CDC for further evaluation. The CDC has surged staff to these airports to support this mission requirement.</p>
<p>In addition to these measures, CBP officers are asking all passengers traveling on a passport from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, regardless of where they traveled from, whether they have been in one of the three countries in the prior 21 days. If the traveler has been in one of the three countries in the prior 21 days, he or she will be referred for additional screening and, if necessary, CDC or other medical personnel in the area will be contacted pursuant to existing protocols.</p>
<p>The U.S. Coast Guard is also monitoring vessels known to be inbound from Ebola-affected countries, and is providing information to the Captain of the Port, District, and CDC representatives.</p>
<p>The CDC maintains Federal jurisdiction to determine whether to isolate or quarantine potentially infected arrivals. DHS personnel may be called upon to support the enforcement of the CDC’s determinations, and we stand ready to help.</p>
<h2>Information Sharing and Training</h2>
<p>DHS has prioritized sharing information and raising awareness as important elements in combating the spread of Ebola, and CBP has a unique opportunity to deliver critical information to targeted travelers from the affected countries in ports of entry. Secretary Johnson recently directed CBP to distribute health advisories to all travelers arriving in the U.S. from the Ebola-affected countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. These advisories provide the traveler with information on Ebola, health signs to look for, and information for their doctor should they need to seek medical attention in the future.</p>
<p>CBP and TSA have posted messages from the CDC at select airport locations that provide awareness on how to prevent the spread of infectious disease, typical symptoms of Ebola, and instructions to call a doctor if the traveler becomes ill in the future.</p>
<p>We also share information with our nongovernmental and state and local partners. TSA is engaging with industry partners and domestic and foreign air carriers to provide awareness on the current outbreak, and has issued an Information Circular to air carriers reinforcing the CDC’s message on Ebola and providing guidance on identifying potential travelers with Ebola.</p>
<p>OHA, through the National Biosurveillance Integration Center, is continuing to monitor the outbreak to coordinate information in response to the event. These reports on biological events are disseminated to more than 15,000 Federal, State, and local users, many of whom work in the public health sector or support 78 fusion centers across the Nation, helping to ensure that the most up-to-date information is available.</p>
<p>DHS is committed to ensuring that our own employees have up-to-date and accurate information. We have provided our own personnel with background information on the current outbreak, information on the regions of importance; symptoms of the virus and mode of transmission; and operational procedures and precautions for processing travelers showing signs of illness. CBP field personnel will be kept up to date on national, regional and location-specific information on Ebola preparedness and response measures through regular field musters. CBP has provided guidance to the field on baggage inspection for international travelers from impacted countries, proper procedures for inspection and handling of prohibited meat products, and proper safeguarding and disposal of garbage from all inbound international flights.</p>
<p>CBP officers receive the CDC’s public health training, which teaches officers to identify symptoms and characteristics of ill travelers. CBP also provides operational training and guidance to frontline personnel on how to respond to travelers with potential illness, including referring individuals who display signs of illness to CDC quarantine officers for secondary screening, the use of personal protective equipment (which is available for employees at these airports along with instructions for use), as well as training on assisting CDC with implementation of its isolation and quarantine protocols. CBP officers are trained to employ universal precautions, an infection control approach developed by the CDC, when they encounter individuals with overt symptoms of illness or contaminated items in examinations of baggage and cargo. Universal precautions assume that every direct contact with body fluids is infectious and requires exposed employees to respond accordingly. TSA also ensures that its employees are adequately trained and, where appropriate, are provided personal protective equipment. The health and safety of DHS employees is also our priority as we carry out this critical mission.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>The Department of Homeland Security has worked closely with its interagency partners to develop a layered approach to identifying ill travelers and protecting the air traveling public. DHS is always assessing the measures we have in place and continues to look at any additional actions that can be taken to ensure the safety of the American people. We look forward to working with you to address this problem collaboratively. We will continue to closely monitor the Ebola outbreak, and will evaluate additional measures as needed.</p>
<p>We thank you for your time and interest in this important issue. We look forward to answering your questions.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-review-date field-type-datetime field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Review Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2014-11-06T00:00:00-05:00">November 6, 2014</span></div></div></div>Thu, 06 Nov 2014 05:00:00 +0000erik.bugler12999 at http://www.dhs.govWritten testimony of CBP for a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations hearing titled “Examining the U.S. Public Health Response to the Ebola Outbreak”http://www.dhs.gov/news/2014/10/16/written-testimony-cbp-house-energy-and-commerce-subcommittee-oversight
<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-entity-property-field field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Release Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">October 16, 2014</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>2123 Rayburn House Office Building</p>
<p>Chairman Murphy, Ranking Member DeGette, distinguished members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to speak with you today. I appreciate the opportunity to testify on U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) role in the Federal government’s Ebola response.</p>
<p>The 2014 Ebola epidemic is the largest in history with devastating impacts in multiple West African countries – the hardest hit being Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. On September 30, 2014, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the first travel-associated case of Ebola in the United States. The patient had traveled from Liberia to Dallas, TX, connecting through the Brussels International Airport in Belgium and Dulles International Airport in Virginia. The patient did not have symptoms when he left Liberia, nor when he entered the United States, but developed symptoms approximately four days after his arrival. In the midst of this public health event, it is important to remember that the CDC has stated that the risk of a widespread Ebola outbreak in the United States is very low. CBP, as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) overall strategy, is engaged on a daily basis with its interagency partners to prepare for and respond to Ebola and other potential threats to public health.</p>
<p>As you know, CBP is responsible for securing our nation’s borders and safeguarding the American homeland at and beyond our borders. In today’s remarks, I will provide an overview of CBP’s efforts to protect the American people from Ebola, and CBP’s specific efforts within ports of entry to identify and respond to travelers who may pose a threat to public health.</p>
<h2>Screening and Observation Protocols</h2>
<p>As the Nation’s unified border security agency, CBP is responsible for securing our Nation’s borders while facilitating the flow of legitimate international travel and trade that is so vital to our Nation’s economy. Within this broad responsibility, our priority mission remains to prevent terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the United States. We also play an important role in limiting the introduction, transmission, and spread of serious communicable diseases from foreign countries. CBP works closely with CDC to recognize the signs and symptoms of international travelers who may be ill with a communicable disease of public health significance such as Ebola. CBP and the CDC have closely coordinated to develop policies, procedures, and protocols to identify travelers to the United States who may have a communicable disease, responding in a manner that minimizes risk to the public. These pre-existing procedures – applied in the land, sea, and air environments – have been utilized collaboratively by both agencies on a number of occasions with positive results.</p>
<p>CBP is continually providing updated guidance to its frontline personnel regarding Ebola, to include background on the current outbreak and impacted regions; origin, pathology, and mode of transmission; symptoms; and operational procedures and precautions for processing travelers showing signs of illness.</p>
<p>CBP is actively engaged with health and medical authorities at the national, state, and local levels. A CDC Quarantine Office liaison stationed at the CBP National Targeting Center continues to provide subject matter expertise and facilitate requests for information between the two organizations. Additionally, CDC provides “Do Not Board” notification to CBP regarding individuals who may be infected with a highly contagious disease, present a threat to public health, and should be prevented from traveling via commercial aircraft.</p>
<p>Once travelers arrive in the United States, they are subject to additional measures. As part of every inspection, CBP officers at all ports of entry – in the land, sea, and air environments – conduct surveillance of travelers, which includes routine visual observation during primary processing and notification to the CDC or U.S. public health officials, as appropriate. CBP officers are trained in illness recognition by the CDC. Officers look for overt signs of illness and can obtain additional information from the travelers during the inspection interview. If a traveler is identified with overt signs of a communicable disease of public health significance, the traveler is isolated from the traveling public and referred to CDC’s Regional Quarantine Officers or local public health personnel for medical evaluation.</p>
<h2>Additional Screening Measures</h2>
<p>DHS has executed a number of measures to minimize the risk of those sick with Ebola entering the United States, and we take a layered approach to ensure there are varying points at which an ill individual could be identified. To this end, CBP is focused on protecting the air traveling public and taking steps to ensure that travelers with communicable diseases like Ebola are identified, isolated, and quickly and safely referred to medical personnel. CBP has been working with the CDC to implement additional entry screening measures for travelers entering the United States.</p>
<p>Specifically, CBP developed targeting rules that analyze advance passenger travel information provided by commercial airlines to identify travelers whose travel originated in or transited through Ebola-affected countries, which currently include Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.</p>
<p>A small number of U.S. airports receive the vast majority of travelers from the Ebola-affected countries. Beginning on October 11, at John F. Kennedy (JFK) airport in New York, CBP implemented enhanced screening of travelers from the three affected countries. These enhanced efforts roll out today at Dulles, Chicago O’Hare, Atlanta, and Newark.</p>
<p>In coordination with CDC, as mentioned above, CBP is implementing additional traveler screening processes when passengers traverse through primary screening. Travelers who originated from or transited through these countries and are entering the United States will be asked to complete a screening questionnaire, developed in conjunction with the CDC to further identify possible risks – even if the passenger does not display overt visual signs of illness. U.S. Coast Guard Corpsmen will assess travelers for fever until medical professionals can be contracted. Detailed supplemental contact information for each traveler will also be collected. If any of these procedures raise concerns regarding Ebola, the traveler will be referred to CDC personnel or local public health personnel for medical evaluation and assessment.</p>
<p>The CDC maintains jurisdiction to determine whether to detain, isolate, quarantine, or issue monitoring orders to potentially infected individuals. CBP personnel may be called upon to help with enforcement of the CDC’s determinations, and we stand ready to help.</p>
<h2>Information Sharing and Training</h2>
<p>DHS has prioritized sharing information and raising awareness as important elements in combating the spread of Ebola, and CBP has a unique opportunity to deliver critical information to targeted travelers from the affected countries in ports of entry. Secretary Johnson recently directed CBP to distribute health advisories to all travelers arriving in the United States from the Ebola-affected countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. These advisories provide the traveler with information on Ebola, health signs to look for, and information for their doctor should they need to seek medical attention in the future.</p>
<p>CBP and the Transportation Security Administration have posted messages from the CDC at select airport locations that provide awareness on how to prevent the spread of infectious disease, typical symptoms of Ebola, and instructions to call a doctor if the traveler becomes ill in the future.</p>
<p>CBP officers receive the CDC’s public health training, which teaches officers to identify symptoms and characteristics of ill travelers. CBP also provides operational training and guidance to frontline personnel on how to respond to travelers with potential illness, including referring individuals who display signs of illness to the CDC or local public health personnel, as well as isolation and quarantine protocols. The health and safety of CBP employees is also our priority as CBP carries out this critical assignment. CBP officers receive training on personal protective equipment, which is available for employees at these airports along with instructions for use. CBP officers are trained to employ universal precautions, an infection control approach developed by the CDC, when they encounter individuals with overt symptoms of illness or contaminated items in examinations of baggage and cargo. Universal precautions assume that every direct contact with body fluids is infectious and requires exposed employees to respond accordingly.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>CBP has worked closely with its interagency partners to develop a layered approach to identifying ill travelers and protecting the air traveling public. CBP is always assessing the measures we have in place and continues to look at any additional actions that can be taken to ensure the safety of the American people. We look forward to working with you to address any concerns. We will also continue to closely monitor the Ebola epidemic, and will evaluate additional activities as needed.</p>
<p>I thank you for your time and interest in this important issue. I look forward to answering your questions.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-review-date field-type-datetime field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Review Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2014-10-15T00:00:00-04:00">October 15, 2014</span></div></div></div>Thu, 16 Oct 2014 04:00:00 +0000erik.bugler12725 at http://www.dhs.govWritten testimony of CBP and I&A for a House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security hearing titled “One Flight Away: Examination of the Threat posed by ISIS Terrorists with Western Passports”http://www.dhs.gov/news/2014/09/10/written-testimony-cbp-and-ia-house-homeland-security-subcommittee-border-and
<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-entity-property-field field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Release Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">September 10, 2014</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>311 Cannon House Office Building</p>
<p>Chairwoman Miller, Ranking Member Jackson Lee, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear today to discuss U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) security measures to protect our Nation from the threat of terrorists and terrorist weapons, including threats connected with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. I appreciate the Committee’s leadership and your commitment to helping ensure the security of the American people. This year, CBP celebrates the 225th anniversary of the establishment of the U.S. Customs Service and the important role it played in the history of our Nation. Since its merger into CBP in 2003, Customs has remained a part of CBP’s heritage and a significant presence in the continuation of our mission. Today, CBP serves as the frontline in defending America’s borders against terrorists and instruments of terror and protects our economic security while facilitating lawful international travel and trade. CBP takes a comprehensive approach to border management and control, combining national security, customs, immigration, and agricultural protection into a coordinated whole.</p>
<h2>CBP’s Intelligence-Driven Travel Security Operations</h2>
<p>As this Committee knows, we live in a world of ever-evolving threats. From this perspective, CBP is now focused on the literally thousands of foreign fighters, including U.S. citizens, who continue to gravitate toward Syria to engage in that protracted civil war. Many of these are fighting alongside violent extremist groups both in Syria and in neighboring Iraq, learning battlefield skills and terrorist tradecraft.</p>
<p>Of the numerous insurgent groups active in Iraq, Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) demonstrated focus on consolidating territory in the Middle East region to establish their own Islamic State is of particular concern. Since June 2014, ISIS (also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)) and its allies have gained control of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, captured significant territory across central Iraq, and continue to engage with Iraqi security forces in that region. In early August, the threat to the Iraqi Kurdistan Region increased considerably with the advance of ISIL towards Kurdish areas.</p>
<p>As foreign fighters supporting ISIL’s regional aggression retain the ability to travel to their countries of origin and beyond, they have the potential to threaten the Homeland.<a href="#fn1" name="fn1r" title="Sources for ISIL background..." id="fn1r"><sup>1</sup></a></p>
<p>In response to the potential threat posed by ISIL and other terrorist groups seeking to gain access to the Homeland, CBP, and more broadly the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is continually refining our risk-based strategy and layered approach to security, extending our borders outward, and focusing our resources on the greatest risks to interdict threats before they reach the United States. CBP processes nearly one million travelers each day at our Nation’s ports of entry, and about 30 percent—over 100 million a year—of these travelers arrive via commercial aviation. Given that terrorist organizations primarily seek to use commercial air transportation to move operatives into the United States or as a means to attack the homeland, our testimony will focus on international air travel.</p>
<p>CBP continually evaluates and supplements layered security measures with enhancements to strengthen DHS’s ability to identify and prevent the international travel of those individuals or groups that wish to do us harm. The success of targeted security measures depends on the ability to gather, analyze, share and respond to information in a timely manner – using both strategic intelligence to identify existing and emerging threat streams, and tactical intelligence to perform link analysis and targeted responses.</p>
<p>Our intelligence-driven strategies are integrated into every aspect of our travel security operations. CBP develops and strategically deploys resources to detect, assess and, if necessary, mitigate the risk posed by travelers at every stage along the international travel sequence – including when an individual applies for U.S. travel documents; reserves, books or purchases an airline ticket; checks-in at an airport; while enroute and upon arrival at a U.S. port of entry.</p>
<p><i>Safeguards for Visas and Travel Authorization </i></p>
<p>One of the initial layers of defense in securing international air travel is preventing dangerous persons from obtaining visas, travel authorizations and boarding passes. Before boarding a flight destined for the United States, most foreign nationals must obtain a nonimmigrant visa (NIV) – issued by a U.S. embassy or consulate – or, if they are eligible to travel under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), they must apply for a travel authorization.</p>
<p>For eligible individuals traveling under the VWP, CBP operates the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).<a href="#fn1" name="fn2r" title="Exceptions would be citizens of countries under other visa exempt authority, such as Canada. Citizens of countries under visa exempt authority entering the U.S. via air are subjected to CBP’s screening and inspection processes prior to departure. In the land environment, they are subjected to CBP processing upon arrival at a U.S. port of entry." id="fn2r"><sup>2</sup></a> ESTA, is a web-based system through which individuals must apply for travel authorization prior to boarding an aircraft destined for the United States. Through ESTA, CBP conducts enhanced vetting of VWP applicants in advance of travel to the United States in order to assess whether they are eligible to travel under the VWP or could pose a risk to the United States or the public at large. Through information sharing agreements, CBP provides other U.S. government agencies ESTA application data for the purpose of helping CBP make a determination about an alien’s eligibility to travel without a visa and for law enforcement and administrative purposes. Additionally, CBP requires air carriers to verify that VWP travelers have a valid authorization before boarding an aircraft bound for the United States.</p>
<p>Travelers that require NIVs to travel to the United States must apply to the Department of State (DOS) under specific visa categories depending on the purpose of their travel, including those as visitors for business, pleasure, study, and employment-based purposes. We respectfully refer you to our colleagues in the DOS Bureau of Consular Affairs for additional details about the visa application and adjudication processes.</p>
<p>In an effort to augment and expand traveler targeting operations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has co-located Visa Security Program (VSP) personnel at the National Targeting Center (NTC) – a 24/7 operation where analysts and targeting officers to assess the risk of every international traveler at each stage of the travel continuum, leveraging intelligence materials and law enforcement data. This allows ICE special agents and intelligence analysts to conduct thorough analysis and in-depth investigations of high-risk visa applicants. The focus of the VSP and NTC are complementary: the VSP is focused on identifying terrorists and criminal suspects and preventing them from exploiting the visa process and reaching the United States, while the NTC provides tactical targeting and analytical research in support of preventing terrorist and terrorist weapons from entering the United States. The co-location of VSP personnel at the NTC helps increase both communication and information sharing.</p>
<p>To further enhance traveler screening efforts, ICE, CBP and DOS are collaborating and have begun to implement an automated visa application screening process that expands significantly DHS’ ability to identify serious threats to national security and public safety at the point of inception in an individual’s immigration life-cycle and revolutionizes the way the U.S. Government screens foreign nationals seeking entry to the United States. The program also results in synchronized reviews of information across these agencies and allows for a unified DHS response and recommendation regarding a visa applicant’s eligibility to be issued a visa. The collaborative program leverages the three agencies’ expertise, authorities, and technologies, such as CBP’s Automated Targeting System (ATS), to screen pre-adjudicated (approved) visa applications. It significantly enhances the U.S. Government’s anti-terrorism efforts, improving the existing process by extending our borders outward and denying high risk applicants the ability to travel to the United States.</p>
<p>In March 2010, the NTC implemented a new program to conduct continuous vetting of U.S. NIVs that have been recently issued, revoked and/or denied.<a href="#fn1" name="fn3r" title="CBP continually vets against denied NIVs that were denied for national security reasons, but not for all NIV denials" id="fn3r"><sup>3</sup></a> This recurrent vetting ensures that changes in a traveler’s visa status are identified in near real-time, allowing CBP to immediately determine whether to provide a “no board” recommendation to a carrier or recommend that DOS revoke the visa, or whether additional notification should take place for individuals determined to be within the United States. If a potential visa ineligibility or inadmissibility is discovered for U.S.-bound travelvers, CBP will request that DOS revoke the visa and recommend that the airline not board the passenger. If no imminent travel is identified and derogatory information exists that would render a subject inadmissible, CBP will still coordinate with DOS for a prudential visa revocation. (Note: CBP may recommend that an airline not board a passenger even if the passenger holds a valid visa.) If DOS has revoked, or if CBP has requested revocation of, an individual’s visa and the individual is found to be in the United States, CBP will notify the ICE Counterterrorism and Criminal Exploitation Enforcement Unit for enforcement action. Where applicable, CBP will share any derogatory information with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to ensure denial of benefits. Additionally, the DOS Bureau of Diplomatic Security has over 100 special agents embedded in consular sections at 97 U.S. embassies and consulates. These agents have access to derogatory information uncovered by CBP and can work with host country law enforcement officials to conduct local investigations.</p>
<p><i>Recurrent Vetting </i></p>
<p>Vetting of passengers and travel information occurrs repeatedly throughout the travel sequence.</p>
<p>CBP gathers information and assesses risk when travel is booked and conducts pre-departure and outbound screening for all international flights arriving in and departing from the United States by commercial air. When a traveler purchases a ticket for travel to the United States, a passenger name record (PNR) is generated in the airline’s reservation system. PNR data may contain information on itinerary, co-travelers, changes to the reservation, and payment information. CBP receives passenger data from commercial air carriers at operationally determined intervals up to 96 hours prior to departure and concluding at the scheduled departure time.</p>
<p>Further, Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) regulations require that commercial air carriers transmit all passenger and crew manifest information before departure, prior to securing the aircraft doors. CBP vets APIS information, which includes passenger biographic data and travel document information, on all international flights to and from the United States against the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB), criminal history information, records of lost or stolen passports, public health records, and prior immigration or customs violations and visa refusals. CBP uses APIS and PNR data to identify known or suspected threats before they depart the foreign location.</p>
<p>CBP leverages all available advance passenger data including the PNR and APIS data, previous crossing information, intelligence, and law enforcement information, as well as open source information in its anti-terrorism efforts at the NTC. Starting with the earliest indications of potential travel and continuing through the inspection or arrivals process, the NTC continuously analyzes information using the ATS, a decision-support tool for CBP officers. CBP matches travelers’ information against risk-based criteria developed based on actionable intelligence derived from current Intelligence Community reporting or other law enforcement information available to CBP.</p>
<p>CBP’s pre-departure vetting efforts work in concert with Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Secure Flight program, which vets 100 percent of passengers flying to, from, over, and within the U.S., as well as international point-to-point U.S. carriers, against the No Fly, Selectee, and expanded Selectee portions of the TSDB. Secure Flight provides nearly instant identification of potential matches, allowing for expedited notification of law enforcement, airlines, and our partners in the Intelligence Community to prevent individuals on the No Fly list from boarding an aircraft, as well as ensuring that individuals on the TSDB with the “selectee” designation receive appropriate enhanced screening prior to flying. Secure Flight allows TSA, CBP and our partners in the Intelligence Community to adapt quickly to new threats by accommodating last-minute changes to the risk categories assigned to individual passengers.</p>
<p><i>Pre-Departure Programs </i></p>
<p>CBP’s Pre-Departure Targeting Program utilizes a layered enforcement strategy to prevent terrorists and other inadmissible aliens from boarding commercial aircraft bound for the United States. Three key components of the Pre-Departure Targeting Program are the Immigration Advisory Program (IAP), the Joint Security Program (JSP) and the Regional Carrier Liaison Groups (RCLGs). IAP and JSP support the Pre-Departure Targeting Program with IAP/JSP Officers who are posted at eleven foreign airports in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Spain, France, Qatar, Panama, and Mexico. These IAP/JSP Officers work with the border security agencies of the host country and commercial airlines in order to recommend the denial of boarding to high-risk subjects. The RCLGs, which are located in Honolulu, Miami and New York, and are staffed by CBP officers, are responsible for the remaining non-IAP airports around the world. The RCLGs utilize established relationships with the commercial airlines to prevent passengers who may pose a security threat, have fraudulent documents, or are otherwise inadmissible from boarding flights to the United States. In Fiscal Year 2013, through the Pre-Departure Targeting Program, NTC identified 5,378 passengers who would have been deemed inadmissible to the U.S., and coordinated to prevent them from boarding aircraft at foreign locations by providing “no board” recommendations to carriers.</p>
<p>CBP’s Preclearance locations in Aruba, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Canada, Ireland, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) provide another avenue of security by providing for the inspection and clearance of commercial passengers on foreign soil. CBP officers are in uniform, and have the legal authorities to question travelers and inspect luggage. All mission requirements are completed at the preclearance port prior to travel, including immigration, customs, and agriculture inspections. In the UAE, CBP officers have the greatest authorities of any of our other agreements. The UAE receives flights from Yemen, North and East Africa (Morocco, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Sudan), Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Bangladesh, and India, all high risk pathways for terrorist travel. The underlying principle of this preclearance agreement is the mitigation of threats, both known and unknown, based on our analysis of current threats. There they are allowed a full complement of authorities to question and search individuals and baggage, access to the full complement of technology systems, and are authorized to have access to firearms and other law enforcement tools. Additionally, ICE, Homeland Security Investigations, has an Attaché office located in the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi to follow up on any investigative leads generated from CBP preclearance operations.</p>
<p><i>Arrival Processing </i></p>
<p>Upon arrival in the United States, all persons are subject to inspection by CBP officers. CBP officers scan the traveler’s entry documents to perform queries of various CBP databases for exact or possible matches to existing lookouts, including those of other law enforcement agencies. For most foreign nationals arriving at U.S. airports, CBP officers collect biometrics – fingerprints and photographs – and compare them to any previously collected information. Once a verified identity is established, CBP systems will identify any watchlist information and return the results to the officer for appropriate processing. In addition to the biographic and biometric system queries performed, a CBP officer interviews each traveler to determine the purpose and intent of their travel, and whether any further inspection is necessary based on, among other things, national security, admissibility, customs, or agriculture concerns.</p>
<p>Identifying and separating low-risk travelers from those who may require additional scrutiny is a key element in CBP’s efforts to facilitate and secure international travel. CBP’s trusted traveler programs, such as Global Entry, provide expedited processing upon arrival in the United States for pre-approved, low-risk participants through the use of secure and exclusive lanes and automated kiosks.</p>
<p>Additionally, CBP has established a Counter-Terrorism Response (CTR) protocol at ports of entry for passengers arriving with possible links to terrorism. CTR protocol mandates immediate NTC notification, initiating coordination with the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC), the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC), ICE, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Terrorist Screening Operations Unit (TSOU) and National Joint Terrorism Task Force (NJTTF).</p>
<p><i>Outbound Operations </i></p>
<p>In addition to vetting inbound flights for high-risk travelers, CBP also developed protocols to enhance outbound targeting efforts within ATS, with the goal of identifying travelers who warrant outbound inspection or apprehension. Outbound targeting programs identify potential matches to the TSDB, including potential matches to the “No Fly” List, as well as National Crime Information Center (NCIC) fugitives, and subjects of active currency, narcotics and weapons investigations. Additionally, outbound operations are enhanced by the implementation of targeting rules designed to identify and interdict subjects with a possible nexus to terrorism or links to previously identified terrorist suspects. As with inbound targeting rules, outbound targeting rules are continually adjusted to identify and interdict subjects of interest based on current threat streams and intelligence.</p>
<p>Advance outbound manifest information is also obtained from carriers through the APIS system. As soon as APIS information becomes available, prior to the departure of a commercial flight, CBP and the TSA immediately begin screening and vetting passengers on the outbound flight for possible inclusion in the TSDB, including potential matches to the “No Fly” and Selectee Lists, as well as other law enforcement lookouts.</p>
<p><i>Programs and Partnerships </i></p>
<p>CBP’s Office of Intelligence and Investigative Liaison (OIIL) serves as the situational awareness hub for CBP and provides timely and relevant information along with actionable intelligence to operators and decision-makers. By prioritizing and mitigating emerging threats, risks and vulnerabilities, OIIL improves CBP’s ability to function as an intelligence-driven operational organization and turns numerous data points and intelligence into actionable information for analysts and CBP officers.</p>
<p>CBP works in close partnership with the federal counterterrorism community, including the FBI, the Intelligence Community, ICE, TSA, DOS, state and local law enforcement, the private sector, and our foreign counterparts to improve our ability to identify risks as early as possible in the travel continuum, and to implement security protocols for addressing potential threats.</p>
<p>CBP has partnered with the Department of Defense’s (DoD) U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) to synchronize planning, authorities, and capabilities to enhance each organization’s ability to rapidly and persistently address threats to the homeland before they reach our physical borders. CBP is working with SOCOM components and Theater Special Operations Commands (TSOCs) to develop greater situational awareness of emerging threats, share intelligence, advise on matters of border security, and coordinate enforcement actions as appropriate. CBP and SOCOM - Central Command are working together to leverage each other’s capabilities to affect threat networks, such as ISIL, to prevent previously unknown operational actors and/or facilitators from targeting the homeland.</p>
<p><i>International Partnerships </i></p>
<p>As the foreign fighter threat has grown, the international community's response must evolve to keep pace. Nations need appropriate laws, regulations and enforcement tools and need to take appropriate measures, in coordination with like-minded and transit nations, to help prevent the transit of foreign terrorist fighters across borders and mitigate terrorist recruitment or radicalization to violence. Nations must develop the legal and institutional structures needed to provide international cooperation in the criminal investigation and prosecution of foreign terrorist fighters. International institutions, such as the United Nations and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), must also develop and implement appropriate measures to address this global challenge.</p>
<p>As terrorists change their methods and tactics and technologies continue to evolve, the international community must adapt as quickly as possible. We need to better leverage and coordinate the application of existing tools and structures, strengthen ongoing efforts, and facilitate the development of new innovative tools and approaches to preventing and fighting terrorism, while preserving human rights such as freedom of expression. We also need nations to more fully exercise the tools they already have in place to prevent the movement of foreign fighters across their borders.</p>
<div style="font-size: 80%;">
<hr style="width: 30%; text-align: left; margin-left: 0px;" /><a href="#fn1r" name="fn1" id="fn1"><sup>1</sup></a> Sources for ISIL background:</div>
<ul style="margin-left: 25px;"><li style="font-size: 80%;">Reflections on the Tenth Anniversary of <i>The 9/11 Commission Report</i>, <a href="http://bipartisanpolicy.org/library/report/rising-terrorist-threat-9-11-commission" target="_blank">http://bipartisanpolicy.org/library/report/rising-terrorist-threat-9-11-commission</a>; Transcript / Remarks as Delivered by The Honorable James R. Clapper Director of National Intelligence 9/11 Commission 10th Anniversary Tuesday, July 22, 2014 11:00 a.m.; <a href="http://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/speeches-and-interviews/202-speeches-interviews-2014/1095-remarks-as-delivered-by-dni-clapper-on-the-9-11-commission-10th-anniversary?highlight=WyJpc2lsIl0" target="_blank">http://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/speeches-and-interviews/202-speeches-interviews-2014/1095-remarks-as-delivered-by-dni-clapper-on-the-9-11-commission-10th-anniversary?highlight=WyJpc2lsIl0</a></li>
<li style="font-size: 80%;">Iraq Travel Warning, Last Updated: August 10, 2014; <a href="http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/iraq-travel-warning.html" target="_blank">http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/iraq-travel-warning.html</a>;</li>
<li style="font-size: 80%;">Airstrikes in Iraq: What You Need to Know <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/08/11/airstrikes-iraq-what-you-need-know" target="_blank">http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/08/11/airstrikes-iraq-what-you-need-know</a></li>
</ul><div style="font-size: 80%;"><a href="#fn2r" name="fn2" id="fn2"><sup>2</sup></a> Exceptions would be citizens of countries under other visa exempt authority, such as Canada. Citizens of countries under visa exempt authority entering the U.S. via air are subjected to CBP’s screening and inspection processes prior to departure. In the land environment, they are subjected to CBP processing upon arrival at a U.S. port of entry.<br /><a href="#fn3r" name="fn3" id="fn3"><sup>3</sup></a> CBP continually vets against denied NIVs that were denied for national security reasons, but not for all NIV denials</div>
<p> </p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>CBP will continue to work with our colleagues within DHS, DOS, FBI, DoD, and the Intelligence Community to address emerging threats and identify potential security vulnerabilities. In cooperation with other government agencies and commercial carriers, we will continue to implement our multilayered defense strategy to secure the aviation sector against terrorists and others who threaten the safety of the traveling public and the security of our Nation.</p>
<p>Chairwoman Miller, Ranking Member Jackson Lee, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to testify. We look forward to answering your questions.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-review-date field-type-datetime field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Review Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2014-09-09T00:00:00-04:00">September 9, 2014</span></div></div></div>Wed, 10 Sep 2014 04:00:00 +0000erik.bugler12573 at http://www.dhs.govWritten testimony of CBP for a House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security hearing titled “Port of Entry Infrastructure: How Does the Federal Government Prioritize Investments?”http://www.dhs.gov/news/2014/07/16/written-testimony-cbp-house-homeland-security-subcommittee-border-and-maritime
<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-entity-property-field field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Release Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">July 16, 2014</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>311 Cannon House Office Building</p>
<p>Chairwoman Miller, Ranking Member Jackson Lee, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee ? thank you for the opportunity to discuss U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) efforts to sustain and modernize our Nation’s land ports of entry (LPOEs) to secure and facilitate growing volumes of travel and trade.</p>
<p>CBP is responsible for securing the Nation’s borders at and between ports of entry (POEs), while facilitating the efficient movement of legitimate travel and trade. Later this month, we celebrate the 225<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the establishment of the U.S. Customs Service and the important role it played in the history of our Nation. Since its merger into CBP in 2003, Customs has remained a part of CBP’s heritage and a significant presence in the continuation of our mission. Today, CBP serves as the frontline in defending the American public against terrorists and instruments of terror and protects our economic security while facilitating lawful international travel and trade. CBP takes a comprehensive approach to border management and control, combining national security, customs, immigration, and agricultural protection into a coordinated whole.</p>
<p>The Office of Field Operations (OFO) is the law enforcement entity within CBP responsible for carrying out CBP’s complex and demanding mission at all POEs. OFO manages the lawful access to our Nation and economy by securing and facilitating international trade and travel. Staffing challenges at the POEs continue to increase as CBP takes on additional mission requirements and as trade and travel volumes continue to grow. To address this ongoing challenge, we have developed a three-part Resource Optimization Strategy that 1) identifies staffing requirements using a Workload Staffing Model; 2) ensures the efficient use of resources by optimizing current business processes; and 3) explores funding strategies to support staffing increases.</p>
<p>The Workload Staffing Model employs a rigorous, data-driven methodology to identify staffing requirements by considering all the activities performed by CBP officers at our POEs, the volume of those activities, and the levels of effort required to carry them out. The most recent results of this model show a need for 4,373 additional CBP officers through Fiscal Year (FY) 2015.</p>
<p>Thanks to the support of Congress, the <i>Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014</i>, P.L. 113-76, included funding for 2,000 new CBP officers. These additional officers will be allocated utilizing the Workload Staffing Model and directed to those ports with the greatest need. While the 2,000 additional officers will bring significant support to our mission, it is important to note that this is a good down payment, but unfortunately, no POE will be “made whole” by this allocation of officers. The President’s FY 2015 Budget request calls for user fee increases that would fund an additional 2,000 CBP officers. Additionally, CBP will continue to pursue transformation efforts, new reimbursement authorities, and partnerships with our stakeholders.</p>
<p>There are more people and goods coming through our ports of entry than ever before. Since 2009, we have seen growth in both trade and travel and we expect these trends to continue. Every year, OFO facilitates the travel of tens of millions of international tourists visiting our Nation. In FY 2013, CBP inspected more than 360 million travelers at our air, land, and sea POEs. The facilitation and security of lawful travel and trade is a priority for CBP and we are taking steps, working closely with our stakeholders, Congress, and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), to improve our POEs and our security and facilitation efforts. At CBP, we view effective and efficient security as a contributor to facilitation, and not a barrier. Security measures are vital to protecting travel and trade from the damaging effects of terrorist or other security incidents. Our goals of national security and economic prosperity are fundamentally intertwined.</p>
<p>CBP’s role in securing and facilitating international trade and travel is critical to the growth of our economy and the creation of more jobs. The extent to which wait times affect the local and national economy was most recently studied by the National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE), a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Center of Excellence. CREATE issued “The Impact on the U.S. Economy of Changes in Wait Times at Ports of Entry”<a href="#fn1" name="fn1r" title="“The Impact on the U.S. Economy of Changes in Wait Times at Ports of Entry,” National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE), University of Southern California, released April 4, 2013 (dated March 31, 2013)." id="fn1r"><sup>1</sup></a> in March 2013. Their analysis of 17 major passenger land crossing POEs, 12 major freight crossing POEs, and four major passenger airport POEs, found that an increase or decrease in staffing at the POEs has an impact on wait times and, therefore, on the U.S. economy. More specifically, adding a single CBP officer at each of the 33 studied border crossings equates to annual benefits of a $2 million increase in Gross Domestic Product, $640,000 saved in opportunity costs, and 33 jobs added to the economy per officer added.</p>
<p>More than half of the Nation’s 329 official POEs are located along the U.S. land borders with Mexico and Canada. Most of the inspection facilities at our 167 LPOEs<a href="#fn1" name="fn2r" title="LPOEs include all at-grade and bridge land port inspection facilities. These land port inspection facilities fall within the POE definition under 8 CFR § 100.4(a)." id="fn2r"><sup>2</sup></a> were not designed to meet the post-9/11 security and operational missions of CBP. Rather, they were built to support the distinct operations of pre- DHS components, such as the U.S. Customs Service, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.</p>
<p>Today, CBP’s operations entail sophisticated targeting and communication systems, state-of-the-art detection technology, and a cadre of professional law enforcement personnel to identify, screen, and inspect high-risk persons and cargo and maintain an efficient stream of cross-border travel and trade. However, the success of our operational strategy depends heavily on the condition and operational utility of the inspection facilities and the availability of CBP personnel.</p>
<p>Several LPOEs were built more than 70 years ago and require renovation or replacement to meet present-day operational and security standards. Many constructed as recently as 15 to 20 years ago also require significant modernization to address growing demands for additional processing capacity, new security requirements and enforcement technologies, and the need to maximize the efficiency of existing personnel and resources.</p>
<p>To construct and sustain CBP’s LPOE inspection facilities, CBP works in close partnership with the GSA Public Buildings Service, which manages many of the LPOE facilities.</p>
<div style="font-size: 80%;">
<hr style="width: 30%; text-align: left; margin-left: 0px;" /><a href="#fn1r" name="fn1" id="fn1"><sup>1</sup></a> “The Impact on the U.S. Economy of Changes in Wait Times at Ports of Entry,” National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE), University of Southern California, released April 4, 2013 (dated March 31, 2013).<br /><a href="#fn2r" name="fn2" id="fn2"><sup>2</sup></a> LPOEs include all at-grade and bridge land port inspection facilities. These land port inspection facilities fall within the POE definition under 8 CFR § 100.4(a).</div>
<p> </p>
<h2>LPOE Modernization Planning Process</h2>
<p>CBP employs a multi-step process to plan for all LPOE modernization investments, whether planned for a CBP-owned or a GSA facility. This process includes gathering data using the Strategic Resource Assessment (SRA) process, evaluating identified needs at each POE location, conducting a sensitivity analysis on the initial ranking of needs, and assessing project feasibility and risk. The culmination of this process is a final prioritization of proposed modernization projects and the development of a capital investment plan in coordination with GSA. This capital investment plan divides the project list into feasible annual work plans that reflect the analytical conclusions and incorporate project phasing and funding requirements. CBP and GSA update the capital investment plan annually, taking into account any changes in DHS’s mission and strategy, changing conditions at the LPOEs, and any other factors discovered in the course of projects already under way.</p>
<p>CBP and GSA work in close partnership with key federal, state, and local stakeholders to construct and sustain CBP’s LPOE inspection facilities. As a matter of coordination, CBP consults affected stakeholder agencies at the onset of project planning and continues this relationship throughout project development and execution.</p>
<p>As the facility operator at all LPOEs, including those owned or leased by GSA, CBP works in close coordination with GSA to identify long-term future investments for funding through the GSA Federal Buildings Fund (FBF). Through this collaborative project team approach, both agencies work to ensure that the available federal funding is directed to the areas of greatest need within the GSA portfolio in accordance with the capital investment plan.</p>
<p>Although stimulus funding appropriated under the <i>American Recovery and Reinvestment Act</i> (ARRA), P.L. 111-5, enabled CBP and GSA to fund many large-scale LPOE capital construction and facility improvement projects, significant additional investment is necessary to modernize the entire LPOE portfolio.</p>
<p>Infrastructure enhancements are critical to the improvement of trade and travel facilitation; these changes are necessary to support current traffic volumes and modern technology. Due to the budget environment over the past four years, there have been very limited investments towards modernizing POEs. However, thanks to the support of Congress, CBP received authority to accept reimbursement for activities and donations.</p>
<h2>Partnerships with the Private Sector and Government Entities.</h2>
<p>CBP is frequently asked by our stakeholders to provide new or additional services at POEs across the country. We recognize the potential economic impact for new or expanded service, and we very much want to support these endeavors. However, due to budget restraints and limited resources, we are not always able to accommodate these requests.</p>
<p>A key aspect of CBP’s three-pronged Resource Optimization Strategy is the exploration of partnering with the private sector through such activities as reimbursement and potential acceptance of donations. As part of CBP’s Strategy, CBP received authority to enter into agreements under Section 560 of Division D of the <i>Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013</i>, P.L. 113-6 (Section 560); and Section 559 of Division F of the <i>Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014</i>, P.L. 113-76 (Section 559).</p>
<p>Under Section 560, CBP received authority allowing the Commissioner of CBP to enter into no more than five agreements under certain conditions to provide new or enhanced services on a reimbursable basis in any of CBP’s non-foreign operational environments. CBP implemented this authority, entering into agreement with the participating locations<a href="#fn3" name="fn3r" title="The Section 560 participating partners are the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Board, the City of El Paso, Miami-Dade County, the City of Houston / Houston Airport System, and the South Texas Assets Consortium." id="fn3r"><sup>3</sup></a> before the late December 2013 statutory deadline. In the first six months of the program, CBP was able to provide an additional 7,000 CBP officer assignments and opened primary lanes and booths for an additional 18,000 hours at the request of our partners, increasing border processing throughput at U.S. air and land POEs under this program. In January 2014, CBP received additional authority under Section 559, which authorizes CBP to enter into partnerships with private sector and government entities at ports of entry to reimburse the costs of certain CBP services and to accept donations of real and personal property (including monetary donations) and non-personal services.</p>
<p>Both provisions respond to CBP’s efforts to find innovative approaches to meet the growing demand for new and expanded facilities and, in particular, the ongoing modernization needs of CBP’s LPOE portfolio.</p>
<p><i>Reimbursable Services Agreements </i></p>
<p>Section 559(e) expands CBP’s authority, under a five-year pilot program, to enter into reimbursable agreements similar to the FY 2013 “Section 560” authority. This new authority allows CBP to support requests for expanded services including customs, agricultural processing, border security services, and immigration inspection-related services at POEs; salaries for additional staff; and CBP’s payment of overtime expenses at airports. While there is no limit on the number of agreements CBP can enter into at CBP-serviced seaports or land border ports, only five agreements per year are currently allowed at new or existing CBP-serviced airports for each of the five years the pilot program is authorized. Additionally, the law stipulates that agreements may not unduly and permanently impact existing services funded by other sources.</p>
<p>CBP evaluates each Reimbursable Services Agreement (RSA) proposal based on a single set of objective and carefully vetted criteria to ensure that final recommendations will be most beneficial to CBP, to the requesting parties, and to the surrounding communities. The main factors of consideration include the impact on CBP operations; funding reliability; community and industry concerns; health and safety issues; local/regional economic benefits; and feasibility of program use.</p>
<p>RSAs enable stakeholders to identify enhanced services needed to facilitate growing volumes of trade and travel at specific POEs, and enables CBP to receive reimbursement so that we can fulfill those requirements. The authority provides stakeholders and CBP the flexibility to meet situational or future demand for extended or enhanced services to secure and facilitate the flow of trade or travel at participating ports. At LPOEs this authority enables CBP to open and staff additional lanes or provide services for extended hours to reduce wait times and expedite commercial and personal traffic. At airports, RSAs enable CBP to staff additional booths and accommodate additional flights, or flight arrivals outside of standard operational hours, on an overtime basis. Accommodating additional flights means increased travel and tourism revenue for an airport or a region.</p>
<p><i>Donation Acceptance Authority </i></p>
<p>Section 559(f), the Donation Acceptance Authority, authorizes CBP and GSA to accept donations of real or personal property (including monetary donations) or non-personal services from private sector or Government entities. Any donation accepted may be used only for necessary activities related to the construction, alteration, operation, or maintenance of a new or existing POE, including but not limited to: land acquisition, design, equipment and technology.</p>
<p>The Donation Acceptance Authority legislation requires that CBP and GSA: (1) establish criteria that identify and document their respective roles and responsibilities; (2) identify, allocate, and manage potential risk; (3) define clear, measurable objectives; and (4) publish criteria for evaluating partnership projects.</p>
<p>CBP has been coordinating closely with GSA to meet the Congressional deadline for making donation proposal evaluation criteria available to the public.</p>
<p>Both the Reimbursable Services Authority and the Donation Acceptance Authority enable CBP to build effective partnerships with stakeholders to address the port requirements necessary to support growing volumes of travel and trade.</p>
<div style="font-size: 80%;">
<hr style="width: 30%; text-align: left; margin-left: 0px;" /><a href="#fn3r" name="fn3" id="fn3"><sup>3</sup></a> The Section 560 participating partners are the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Board, the City of El Paso, Miami-Dade County, the City of Houston / Houston Airport System, and the South Texas Assets Consortium.</div>
<p> </p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>The effective security of our Nation and facilitation of international trade and travel rely heavily on the health and operational utility of our inspection facilities. The CBP LPOE modernization strategy, in conjunction with GSA program and project management resources, ensures a reliable method for identifying future infrastructure needs and prioritizing projects at LPOEs. Innovative funding sources, such as the Reimbursable Services Authority and the Donation Acceptance Authority, are critical components of CBP’s Resource Optimization Strategy. CBP views these authorities as an opportunity to proactively work with stakeholders and communities to identify business solutions for a variety of border management needs, and generate mutual benefits of the secure and efficient flow of travel and commerce.</p>
<p>The combination of highly trained personnel, technology, and modernized facilities form the essential foundation for CBP’s operational strategy, which every POE, large or small, must be able to support. CBP continues to evaluate and optimize its primary business processes and will further develop transformation initiatives to accomplish its mission more effectively and efficiently, through practices such as employing technology to streamline processes, expanding Trusted Traveler/Trader Program enrollment, increasing risk segmentation through enhanced targeting/pre-departure initiatives, and leveraging operational best practices.</p>
<p>Legitimate travel and trade play a critical role in the nation’s economic growth, and CBP recognizes its role in sustaining such growth. The number of international visitors and overall cross-border traffic is increasing, and CBP is aggressively working on modernizing our infrastructure and transforming the way we do business to more effectively and efficiently secure our Nation and improve our economy.</p>
<p>Chairwoman Miller, Ranking Member Jackson Lee, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I am happy to answer any questions you may have.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-review-date field-type-datetime field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Review Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2014-07-15T00:00:00-04:00">July 15, 2014</span></div></div></div>Wed, 16 Jul 2014 04:00:00 +0000erik.bugler12375 at http://www.dhs.govWritten testimony of CBP for a Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Homeland Security hearing titled “Strengthening Trade Enforcement to Protect American Enterprise and Grow American Jobs”http://www.dhs.gov/news/2014/07/16/written-testimony-cbp-senate-committee-appropriations-subcommittee-homeland-security
<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-entity-property-field field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Release Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">July 16, 2014</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>138 Dirksen Senate Office Building</p>
<p>Chairwoman Landrieu, Ranking Member Coats, and Members of the Subcommittee, it is an honor to appear before you today to discuss U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) role in facilitating international trade and enforcing our trade laws.</p>
<p>CBP has a dual mission of protecting national security objectives while facilitating legitimate trade and travel, and plays a vital role in promoting the country’s economic prosperity and security. CBP is the second largest revenue collecting source in the federal government and our operations have a significant impact on the security and facilitation of legitimate international commerce and America’s economic competitiveness.</p>
<p>Our trade mission is highly complex. We are responsible for enforcing nearly 500 U.S. trade laws and regulations on behalf of 47 federal agencies, facilitating compliant trade, collecting revenue, and protecting the U.S. economy and consumers from harmful imports and unfair trade practices. Fraudulent trade activities, including the import of counterfeit and pirated goods, threaten America’s innovation economy, the competitiveness of our businesses, the livelihoods of U.S. workers, and, in some cases, national security and the health and safety of consumers.</p>
<p>Annually, CBP manages over 300,000 active unique importer-of-record numbers, accounting for 30.4 million commercial transactions, which represents approximately $2.4 trillion dollars in imports and generates over $40 billion dollars in duties, fees and taxes. In addition to applying the multitude of daily tariffs and the processing of mass amount of commercial shipments, CBP must also consider the complexities of enforcing U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) commitments. The United States has existing FTAs with 20 countries and is currently negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement with 11 Asia-Pacific region countries, and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) with the European Union. These are important agreements for the United States that will promote U.S. international competitiveness, jobs, and growth. In FY 2013 alone, FTAs accounted for over $676 billion in imports.</p>
<h2>CBP’s Layered Trade Enforcement Strategy</h2>
<p>As the nation’s border enforcement agency, CBP is responsible for detecting and interdicting goods imported to, exported from, and transiting through the United States by means of fraudulent trade activities intended to avoid the payment of duties, taxes and fees, or activities meant to evade U.S. legal requirements for international trade. Central to all of CBP’s multilayered trade enforcement activities are the continuous enhancements to our targeting programs, the expansion of our trade intelligence, and our ability to identify and understand trade risks whether they affect national security, U.S. business competitiveness, or the collection of revenue. We obtain information about shippers, producers, importers, cargo and vessels, as early as possible in the shipping process. Using advanced targeting techniques, we build and maintain a knowledge base about the people, companies, facilities, conveyances and cargo involved in the supply chain.</p>
<p>Enforcement of trade laws and interdiction of illegal cargo are based on advanced risk-based targeting. CBP performs targeting activities throughout the import process ? depending on the pathway ? prior to departure from origin, before cargo arrives at a port of entry, at time of entry, and after the cargo is conditionally released. In accordance with the Trade Act of 2002, P.L. 107-210, and the SAFE Port Act of 2006, P.L. 109-347, carriers are required to submit manifest data containing an inventory of all goods, supplies, cargo, and persons on board a conveyance or container in advance of arriving at a port of entry. Filers submit entry/entry summary information to declare specific commodity information to CBP for clearance and payment of duties, and the manifest and entry information is integrated into “shipments” for vetting through CBP’s Automated Targeting System (ATS). ATS is a critical decision support tool that CBP uses to assess the risk of goods entering the United States. ATS incorporates information from other CBP systems, as well as, other law enforcement databases to use in its risk assessment. ATS provides a uniform screening of all its cargo transactions and identifies anomalies based on numerous risk factors.</p>
<p>Shipments matching ATS targeting factors are presented to CBP officers assigned overseas with the Container Security Initiative (CSI), targeters at our numerous Advance Targeting Units (ATUs) located at our domestic ports of entry (POEs), as well as our seasoned experts at the National Targeting Center for Cargo Operations (NTC-C). Upon arrival of cargo at a port of entry, using targeting results to prioritize inspection of high risk cargo, CBP has the authority to perform an exam of the goods; detain, seize, or request re-export of the goods; or release the goods. In the post-entry environment, CBP assesses duties, determines statutory and regulatory compliance, and collects import statistics. Effective targeting not only enables CBP to detect and address potential risks before a shipment arrives at a port of entry, but it also enables CBP to separate low-risk and legitimate shipments from those that require additional scrutiny.</p>
<p>When it comes to targeting shipments for potential threats to consumer safety, the Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center (CTAC) is a CBP facility designed to streamline and enhance federal efforts to address import safety issues. Created in 2009, the CTAC facilitates information sharing amongst 11 participating government agencies (PGAs),<a href="#fn1" name="fn1r" title="The 11 federal agencies that participate in the CTAC include: CBP; U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission; &#10;U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal Plant Health Inspection Service; Food Safety and Inspection Service; &#10;U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE/HSI); U.S. Environmental&#10;Protection Agency (EPA); Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA); National Highway&#10;Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA); Food and Drug Administration (FDA); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service&#10;(FWS); and the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS)." id="fn1r"><sup>1</sup></a> while simultaneously developing, implementing and streamlining cohesive import-safety enforcement procedures that drive further interdiction of harmful and inadmissible goods. Supporting CBP’s unified trade targeting mission, the NTC-C has an embedded presence at the CTAC facility, driven to heighten the connectivity between the PGAs admissibility mission and the NTC-C’s 24/7 operational capabilities.</p>
<p>The National Targeting and Analysis Groups (NTAGs) are the primary national trade targeting assets for CBP. NTAGs provide in-depth risk analysis for high priorities such as Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and Antidumping and Countervailing Duty (AD/CVD). The NTAGs work in concert with the Centers of Excellence and Expertise (CEE), and the NTC-C Tactical Trade Targeting Unit (T3U), to enhance trade targeting expertise. These entities work with the entire cycle of trade fraud enforcement—from information intake, analysis, targeting, investigative case support, and operational assessments.</p>
<p>Trade intelligence is vital component of effective trade targeting. The establishment of the NTC in December 2001, and the development of partnerships with other agencies, both domestically and abroad, has enabled real-time information sharing between agencies and governments. Partnerships with Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE/HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and the Departments of Commerce (Commerce) and Health and Human Services (HHS) promote information sharing and the exchange of best practices. Collaboration with foreign governments results in seizures and detection of threats at our borders and in foreign ports.</p>
<p>The trade community is an essential element to expanding CBP’s trade intelligence. Through collaboration with industry, CBP deepens its understanding of the way business and industry operates in the ever changing global marketplace and leverages that information for risk analysis and targeting. CBP has developed effective working relationships with many U.S. industries, which regularly provide intelligence on specific companies and imports as well as technical commodity information. Key to CBP’s collaboration with industry and our efforts toward building bi-directional trade education are CBP’s 10 Centers of Excellence and Expertise (CEEs). The CEEs are redefining how CBP works collaboratively with industry members to understand trade risks. By focusing on industry-specific issues, CBP is able to provide tailored support to unique trading environments. The CEEs are helping to increase uniformity and expertise across CBP for the administration of industry-specific trade enforcement. The CEEs are just one of CBP’s Trade Transformation Initiatives supporting CBP’s efforts to target the evasion of U.S. trade laws, protect the revenue of the U.S. Government, and ensure a level playing field for U.S. industry.</p>
<p>Each of these entities brings a particular targeting skill set to the table. For example, by virtue of the CEEs industry-based knowledge, CBP can utilize critical trade intelligence in our enforcement efforts. Additionally, because of the NTAGs’ expertise, CBP can better understand the overlapping risk areas within each industry sector. Integrating these knowledge areas is an enforcement priority for the agency. By creating a common operating picture that identifies risk within the trade arena, CBP can quickly act on fraudulent trade schemes. Moreover, by leveraging expertise within each targeting unit, CBP deepens its trade enforcement posture, resulting in more effective outcomes. For example, in FY 2014, referrals from the T3U resulted in 179 seizures with a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) value of over $5.3 million. Integration of these national targeting groups is crucial, as each provides support for our law enforcement partners, such as ICE/HSI Agents assigned to the newly formed National Targeting Center for Investigations (NTC-I). Partnerships between T3U and NTC-I personnel are leveraged as a force multiplier which has resulted in more effective sharing of information and increased outcome-based enforcement actions. For example, in FY 2014, the T3U supported $60.7 million total MSRP from HSI case work, including 31 criminal arrests, 10 indictments, 8 convictions, 35 search warrants and 3 administrative arrests.</p>
<div style="font-size: 80%;">
<hr style="width: 30%; text-align: left; margin-left: 0px;" /><a href="#fn1r" name="fn1" id="fn1"><sup>1</sup></a> The 11 federal agencies that participate in the CTAC include: CBP; U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission; U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal Plant Health Inspection Service; Food Safety and Inspection Service; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE/HSI); U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA); National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA); Food and Drug Administration (FDA); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS); and the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS).</div>
<p> </p>
<h2>Antidumping and Countervailing Duty: A Priority Trade Issue</h2>
<p>In the performance of its trade enforcement operations, CBP has identified several high-risk areas, designated as Priority Trade Issues (PTI) that can cause significant revenue loss, harm the U.S. economy, or threaten the health and safety of the American people. PTIs drive riskinformed investment of CBP resources and enforcement and facilitation efforts, including the selection of audit candidates, special enforcement operations, outreach, and regulatory initiatives. The five current PTIs are Intellectual Property Rights; Textiles and Apparel; Import Safety; Trade Agreements; and Antidumping and Countervailing Duties (AD/CVD).</p>
<p>Under the Tariff Act of 1930, U.S. industries may petition the government for relief from imports that are sold in the United States at less than fair value ("dumped") or which benefit from subsidies provided through foreign government programs. Under the law, the U.S. Department of Commerce determines whether the dumping or subsidizing exists and, if so, the margin of dumping or amount of the subsidy. The United States International Trade Commission determines whether there is material injury or threat of material injury to the domestic industry by reason of the dumped or subsidized imports. AD/CVD has been identified by CBP as a PTI because collection of these duties is critical to the U.S. economy and U.S. business competitiveness.</p>
<p>While the vast majority of manufacturers, importers, customs brokers, and other parties involved in shipments of goods subject to AD/CVD orders accurately provide their shipment information to CBP and lawfully pay the duties due, CBP has a core statutory responsibility to collect all revenue owed to the U.S. Government that arises from the importation of goods. CBP’s AD/CVD trade program works to ensure that CBP implements a concerted, systematic approach to detecting and deterring the circumvention of AD/CVD laws, and liquidating transactions in a timely and accurate manner, while facilitating legitimate trade.</p>
<h2>AD/CVD Collection Challenges</h2>
<p>CBP’s principal challenges with AD/CVD collection include identifying and eliciting payment from the small minority of non-compliant importers ? while facilitating the larger universe of compliant importer shipments ? and the nature of the AD/CVD system.</p>
<p>Some importers are unwilling or unable to pay the actual duties, and some are no longer in business when CBP issues a bill, leading to uncollected AD/CVD. Other importers, often in the form of shell companies and foreign non-resident importers, have no intention of paying any final duties, and disappear as soon as there is any indication that final duties may increase. This is particularly true for AD/CVD orders covering imports from China, and Chinese agriculture/aquaculture imports in particular. In FY 2013, uncollected AD/CVD on imports from China accounted for 95 percent of the uncollected AD/CVD.</p>
<p>In addition, some importers participate in schemes to intentionally evade AD/CVD liabilities. Evasion schemes take on several forms and often involve the collusion of multiple parties, including the manufacturer, shippers, and the importer. Several schemes, like the ones listed below, may be used simultaneously, to avoid AD/CVD liability and further complicate detection efforts:</p>
<ul style="margin-left: 25px;"><li><b>Transshipment</b> involves the illegal manipulation of products, packaging, documents and shipping logistics to disguise the true country of origin of a product.</li>
<li><b>Undervaluation</b> is the falsification of documents and declarations to reduce the amount of AD/CVD a company must pay. Beyond the suspicion of undervaluation, it can be difficult to sufficiently prove that it is occurring, especially if there is collusion between the producer and importer to create false values.</li>
<li><b>Failure to manifest</b> (i.e. smuggling) is when a company does not declare goods on its entry documents in order to avoid paying AD/CVD duties.</li>
<li><b>Misclassification</b> involves improperly declaring goods with the proper duty classification, or mis-describing the goods to avoid suspicion of dumping. This is easier to detect and address than other schemes, but is often used in combination with another scheme such as transshipment, so that it may still appear to fall outside the scope of an AD/CVD case.</li>
</ul><p>A particularly challenging scheme importers use to evade AD/CVD is employing “shell companies,” which are companies with no assets or physical presence in the United States, as a primary means of avoiding payment. In addition, CBP has limited legal recourse in collecting debts from importers located in other countries. When CBP cannot collect from the importer, the amount of the bond is often insufficient to cover the additional duties – which can rise above 400 percent of the dutiable value. While the use of bonding as security for the payment of AD/CVD is convenient for the trade, it also presents a set of challenges to the Government, such as legal challenges from sureties whose bonds secure AD/CVD bills. Further, while bonds can provide some assurance to the U.S. Government that duties will be paid, setting bonding levels for AD/CVD imports is a challenge for CBP because the final duty liability and payment risk are unknown at the time of importation of AD/CVD entries. Moreover, bonding alone simply cannot mitigate all of the serious collections issues posed by the current retrospective AD/CVD system.</p>
<p>Internally, the current automated import system used by CBP, the Automated Commercial System (ACS) also provides AD/CVD enforcement challenges. ACS is not designed to track and record AD/CVD liquidations that occur by operation of law, nor does it afford CBP the ability to determine with absolute certainty the amount or existence of single transaction bonds (STBs). However, the continued deployment of CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) will address these challenges.</p>
<p>All of these challenges affect CBP’s ability to collect owed duties. Despite these challenges, CBP actively pursues collection of all unpaid AD/CVD claims against delinquent importers and sureties.</p>
<h2>AD/CVD Enforcement</h2>
<p>CBP is constantly developing new AD/CVD enforcement protocols to meet the challenges posed by the increasing complexity of AD/CVD evasion schemes. As with other trade areas, quality intelligence and advanced targeting is key to effective enforcement. CBP identifies potential evasion by working with U.S. industry, ICE/HSI, other U.S. government agencies, and our international partners to develop new sources of information to identify AD/CVD circumvention.</p>
<p>To detect AD/CVD evasion, CBP employs significant assets from across the Agency and uses many tools, including import trade trend and valuation analysis, the use of targeted reviews and audits, lab testing, and special operations. In FY 2013, CBP completed 88 AD/CVD audits covering multiple importers of AD/CVD commodities. Through these audits, CBP identified AD/CVD discrepancies with a value of approximately $71 million, and has collected over $46 million. CBP is continuing to pursue collections on all money owed to the U.S. Government.</p>
<p>Another effort CBP is pursing to enhance its trade enforcement capabilities is increasing the quality and integrity of the information collected from the importing community. Additional information would assist CBP in addressing the significant challenge of identifying shell companies who avoid paying large sums of duty, including AD/CVD. CBP is in the process of revising a key importer form to require additional information. With these revisions, CBP expects that it will become more knowledgeable about new importers and be better equipped to screen for shell companies and improve risk assessment for targeting of shipments. The revised form seeks to capture more detailed company information, and more information about individuals involved, such as the importer, company officer, and sole proprietor of the goods being imported. Early identification of shell companies can improve targeting (and ultimately collection), while link analysis can allow better monitoring of behavior that deviates from the corporate identity presented to CBP.</p>
<p>Invaluable to the enforcement of all trade laws, CBP’s Laboratories and Scientific Services Directorate (LSSD) has been part of trade enforcement since 1841. LSSD plays a key part in the enforcement of such disciplines as AD/CVD, classification, value, transshipment, intellectual property rights and counterfeit materials and finished products. In FY 2013, this division handled 1,298 samples relating to 766 cases of importations of suspect AD/CVD violations. LSSD analyzes a wide range of commodities, including honey, garlic, plastic carrier bags, steel, bearings, wax candles, paper, pasta, hardwood and decorative plywood, and mushrooms.</p>
<p>One of CBP’s most valuable partners in AD/CVD enforcement is the trade community. U.S. industry, trade associations, and importers provide critical insight to CBP on enforcement issues related to developments in AD/CVD and other trade sensitive imports, and advise CBP staff on the latest industry-wide changes for such commodities. CBP meets regularly with U.S. industry representatives to discuss AD/CVD circumvention schemes, and U.S. industry representatives share valuable market and product intelligence with us. Partnerships with the trade community are critical to rooting out unfair trading practices. The trade community provides market intelligence and commodity expertise to identify unfair trading practices or illegal trading activity.</p>
<p>In order to facilitate the process for the trade community to provide us with this critical information, we created an online referral process called e-Allegations. Since e-Allegations inception in June 2008, CBP has received more than 9,784 commercial allegations via <a href="http://www.cbp.gov" target="_blank">www.cbp.gov</a>. Nearly 10 percent of these allegations are AD/CVD-related. Every allegation submitted through e-Allegations is reviewed and researched to determine the validity of the trade law violation(s) being alleged. Some are reviewed and resolved internally within CBP, and some are referred to ICE for further investigation. All allegations that include contact information are followed up to develop more information and to allow CBP to keep the allegers of our enforcement progress.</p>
<h2>AD/CVD Collection Efforts</h2>
<p>CBP, in collaboration with ICE/HSI, has had increasing success in identifying, penalizing, and disrupting distribution channels of imported goods that seek to evade AD/CVD. CBP personnel refer many cases of AD/CVD evasion to ICE/HSI for criminal investigation and, after building the cases until they are ready for investigation, CBP works closely with ICE/HSI to establish the evidence of criminal violations. In FY 2013, ICE/HSI criminal investigations, with CBP support, successfully disrupted distribution networks of numerous types of imported Chinese goods evading AD/CVD, including:</p>
<ul style="margin-left: 25px;"><li>Operation Honeygate, where ICE/HSI, in collaboration with CBP, exposed a criminal network responsible for evading $180 million in antidumping duties on imported Chinese honey. Several individuals were imprisoned for their criminal activities and two of the nation’s largest honey suppliers paid millions of dollars of fines.</li>
<li>An ICE/HSI investigation with substantial CBP support that culminated in the criminal indictments of Chinese, Taiwanese, and U.S. companies and company officials for illegally transshipping lined paper from China in order to evade over $25 million in antidumping duties.</li>
<li>ICE/HSI agents working jointly with CBP offices arrested five individuals and indicted three companies who allegedly participated in a conspiracy to illegally import aluminum extrusions from China transshipped through Malaysia to avoid over $25 million in AD/CVD duties.</li>
</ul><p>CBP’s targeting and enforcement activities are applied at every stage in the import process. Numerous enforcement activities related to AD/CVD enforcement occur at our Nation’s ports of entry when the shipment arrives. For instance, in FY 2013, CBP cargo examinations and entry reviews revealed evasion of AD/CVD duties for aluminum extrusion products from China, which led to the recovery of over $5 million. Another example is when two port operations on candles from China identified misclassifications, resulting in the receipt of almost $1.1 million in antidumping duty. A third case involving local operations and blitzes conducted by one CBP field office on multiple AD/CVD commodities recovered a total of over $6 million in AD/CVD duties. CBP staff at ports of entry are continuously reviewing import information to detect AD/CVD evasion and noncompliance, deter future evasion, and bring importers into compliance with AD/CVD requirement.</p>
<p>CBP aggressively utilizes all available authority under the law to collect AD/CVD. CBP continued in FY 2013 to widely employ its legal authority concerning AD/CVD imports by requiring additional security in the form of single transaction bonds (STBs) to protect the revenue when CBP has reasonable evidence that a risk of revenue loss exists. These measures have been very effective in protecting the revenue and facilitating compliance with AD/CVD. Although each import transaction is judged on its own merits, CBP has provided guidance to field personnel on the appropriate and consistent use of the port’s authority to enforce against AD/CVD evasion by taking actions such as requiring “live” entry (that is, payment of estimated duties at the time of entry along with entry summary documentation) or additional bonding, such as STB, when the port has developed a reasonable AD/CVD concerns that acceptance of a transaction secured by a continuous bond alone would place the revenue in jeopardy.</p>
<p>A key component of CBP’s strategy to resolve AD/CVD debts involves the creation of a team within the Office of Administration dedicated to AD/CVD collections. CBP anticipates that the creation of the AD/CVD Collections team will enhance CBP’s technical expertise to deal with the unique complexities of the AD/CVD process; enable CBP to identify importers unwilling or unable to pay outstanding bills earlier; and provide deeper integration of the full AD/CVD processes to anticipate AD/CVD debts rather than simply react to those debts after they are formally established.</p>
<p>Additionally, CBP has developed a 5-year AD/CVD strategic plan to maximize resources for detection and evasion enforcement through advanced targeting and analysis, and to streamline our administrative process.</p>
<h2>CBP’s Trade Transformation</h2>
<p>CBP recognizes its critical role in the economy and has responded by embarking on a “Trade Transformation” – a series of initiatives that create efficiencies for U.S. businesses, the Government, and the consumer. In addition to imports, CBP is working to modernize its export process in support of both the President’s National Export Initiative to streamline the export process and foster growth for U.S. companies and the Export Control Reform Initiative to bolster competitiveness of key U.S. manufacturing and technology sectors. Even as trade volumes continue to rise, these initiatives strengthen CBP’s capabilities and the Nation’s economic competitiveness by lowering the cost of doing business, strengthening enforcement efforts, and leveling the playing field for U.S. companies.</p>
<p>Through the implementation of CBP’s Trade Transformation initiatives, such as the creation of the CEEs, we are working to increase the Nation’s economic competitiveness by lowering the cost of doing business, removing barriers to facilitation, and leveling the playing field for U.S. companies. Additionally, these transformative efforts help CBP strengthen trade enforcement efforts and address ongoing challenges such as AD/CVD collection, by improving and modernizing its trade processes.</p>
<p>CBP’s Trade Transformation initiatives not only seek to create efficiencies within the agency’s business processes, but also seek to develop a consistent “One U.S. Government” approach at the border. CBP, in collaboration with 47 Partner Government Agencies (PGA) that have equities in the trade process, is working toward standardizing Government procedures, streamlining processes, driving efficiencies through automation, and aligning and harmonizing processes with industry business processes.</p>
<p>The need for consistency and harmonization has been a driving force behind our automation efforts. Currently, there are hundreds of paper forms being used to import and export goods. Through the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), CBP’s cargo processing system, we are transforming trade transactions to be more efficient, standardized, simplified, less costly, and more predictable for importers and exporters. ACE will streamline collection and improve enforcement with new automation tools. Electronic bond processing, or e-bond, will be deployed in January next year, and will automate the STB process, enhance tracking ability, and provide enhanced traceability to corresponding transactions for ACE Entry Summaries. ACE will fully replace ACS and improve liquidations, including the ability to indicate and track liquidation by operation of law. ACE also provides for improved communication between CBP, PGAs, and the trading community. ACE’s information-sharing capabilities make it easier for importers to file their information with CBP, and enables CBP to target and assess risk earlier in the supply chain. As ACE functionality is introduced, the associated segments of its predecessor, ACS, are being retired. ACE is being developed and deployed in increments, and is expected to be fully functional by December 31, 2016. Through ACE and e-bond, manual processes will be streamlined and automated, paper will be virtually eliminated, and the international trade community will be able to more easily and efficiently comply with U.S. laws and regulations.</p>
<p>In February 2014, President Obama issued an Executive Order (E.O. 13659), <i>Streamlining the Export/Import Process for America’s Businesses</i>, which, among other things, directs federal agencies with a role in trade to design, develop, and integrate their requirements into an electronic “Single Window,” known as the International Trade Data System, by December 2016. ACE will ultimately serve as the “Single Window” and enable businesses to electronically transmit the data required by the U.S. government to import or export cargo, replacing current practices which are often paper-based and sometimes redundant. This approach will ensure cargo is more secure, will reduce transaction costs for both the government and the trade, and will expedite cargo release. The Executive Order also requires agencies to work together to enhance supply chain processes so that the United States can compete more effectively in the world marketplace.</p>
<p>CBP is also working to design a Government-wide ‘trusted trader’ partnership program that would integrate CBP’s Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and the Importer Self-Assessment (ISA) with other U.S. government trusted trader programs. On June 16, 2014, CBP, in collaboration with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), announced the joint effort to begin the testing of the Trusted Trader program.<a href="#fn2" name="fn2r" title="Federal Register Notice, June 16, 2014, Announcement of Trusted Trade Program Test.&#10;https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/06/16/2014-13992/announcement-of-trusted-trader-program-test" id="fn2r"><sup>2</sup></a> This pilot is expected to inform a comprehensive trusted trader program that standardizes program participation criteria and assists CBP in addressing supply chain security, trade compliance, financial compliance, and enforcement. The program would allow CBP to redirect resources to unknown and high-risk importers, while improving predictability and transparency.</p>
<div style="font-size: 80%;">
<hr style="width: 30%; text-align: left; margin-left: 0px;" /><a href="#fn2r" name="fn2" id="fn2"><sup>2</sup></a> Federal Register Notice, June 16, 2014, Announcement of Trusted Trade Program Test. <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/06/16/2014-13992/announcement-of-trusted-trader-program-test" target="_blank"> https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/06/16/2014-13992/announcement-of-trusted-trader-program-test</a></div>
<p> </p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>CBP will continue to apply advanced risk-based targeting to enforce trade laws and interdict illegal cargo to ensure the implementation of statutory and regulatory authorities and to minimize loss of revenue. CBP will continue to prioritize enforcement actions and compliance initiatives in support of U.S. AD/CVD laws.</p>
<p>CBP works closely with the Department of Commerce, Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Trade Representative, and all other relevant agencies to pursue all available avenues to improve the level of duty collection, ensure importer compliance and prevent loss of revenue. CBP closely collaborates with ICE/HSI to substantiate and act upon duty evasion allegations to support enforcement actions, and to coordinate civil and criminal enforcement of AD/CVD laws. Together, CBP and ICE/HSI continued to train field staff on AD/CVD enforcement.</p>
<p>CBP is committed to working with other government agencies to quickly identify and resolve collection problems, while ensuring that all relevant stakeholders understand these issues and are engaged in developing solutions to facilitate legitimate trade and protect the U.S. economy. CBP will continue to work closely with U.S. industry to obtain the key trade intelligence that is critical to enforcing AD/CVD.</p>
<p>Ongoing enforcement efforts are bolstered by CBP’s trade transformation initiatives, which increase automation, streamline processes, and facilitate trade for low-risk legitimate shipments. These combined efforts, reflect CBP’s recognition of, and commitment to, its vital role in support of the U.S. trade agenda.</p>
<p>Chairwoman Landrieu, Ranking Member Coats, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I am happy to answer any questions you may have.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-review-date field-type-datetime field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Review Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2014-07-21T00:00:00-04:00">July 21, 2014</span></div></div></div>Wed, 16 Jul 2014 04:00:00 +0000erik.bugler12382 at http://www.dhs.govWritten testimony of FEMA, CBP, and ICE for a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing titled “Challenges at the Border: Examining the Causes, Consequences, and Responses to the Rise in Apprehensions at the Southern Border”http://www.dhs.gov/news/2014/07/09/written-testimony-fema-cbp-and-ice-senate-committee-homeland-security-and
<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-entity-property-field field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Release Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">July 9, 2014</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p>
<p>342 Dirksen Senate Office Building</p>
<p>Chairman Carper, Ranking Member Coburn, and Members of the Committee:</p>
<p>Thank you for the opportunity to testify today about our efforts to address the recent rise of unaccompanied children and others crossing our border in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). As you know, Secretary Johnson testified on June 24th before the House Committee on Homeland Security about this situation. Our testimony today echoes and reaffirms his comments.</p>
<p>We face an urgent situation in the RGV. Last fiscal year, CBP apprehended more than 24,000 unaccompanied children at the border. By mid-June of this fiscal year, that number has doubled to more than 52,000. Those from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras make up about three quarters of that migration.</p>
<p>As Secretary Johnson said on June 24th, this is a humanitarian issue as much as it is a matter of border security. We are talking about large numbers of children, without their parents, who have arrived at our border—hungry, thirsty, exhausted, scared and vulnerable. How we treat the children, in particular, is a reflection of our laws and our values.</p>
<p>Therefore, to address this situation, our strategy is three-fold: (1) process the increased tide of unaccompanied children through the system as quickly as possible; (2) stem the increased tide of illegal migration into the RGV; and (3) do these things in a manner consistent with our laws and values as Americans.</p>
<p>So, here is what we are doing:</p>
<p><i>First</i>, on May 12th, Secretary Johnson declared a Level IV condition of readiness within DHS, which is a determination that the capacity of CBP and ICE to deal with the situation is full and we need to draw upon additional resources across all of DHS. He appointed Deputy Chief Vitiello to coordinate this effort within DHS.</p>
<p><i>Second</i>, on June 1st, President Obama, consistent with the Homeland Security Act, directed Secretary Johnson to establish a Unified Coordination Group to bring to bear the assets of the entire federal government on the situation. This Group includes DHS and all of its components, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, Justice, State, and the General Services Administration. Secretary Johnson, in turn, designated FEMA Administrator Fugate to serve as the Federal Coordinating Official for the U.S. Government-wide response. Under Administrator Fugate’s supervision, there are now more than 140 interagency personnel and members stationed in FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center dedicated to this effort.</p>
<p><i>Third</i>, we established added capacity to deal with the processing and housing of the children, we are creating additional capacity in places, and we are considering others. To process the increased numbers of unaccompanied children in Texas, DHS has had to bring some of the children to our processing center at Nogales, Arizona before they are transferred to HHS. We are arranging additional processing centers to handle the rise in the RGV. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense (DoD) has provided space at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas for HHS to house the children before HHS can place them. DoD is also providing facilities at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and Ventura, California for the same purpose. DHS and HHS are working to continue to identify additional facilities for DHS and HHS to house and process the influx of children.</p>
<p><i>Fourth</i>, DHS and HHS are increasing Spanish-speaking case management staff, increasing staff handling incoming calls from parents or guardians, raising awareness of the Parent Hotline (provided by FEMA and operated by HHS), surging staff to manage the intake of CBP referrals to track shelter bed capacity, and facilitate shelter designations. We are developing ways to expedite background checks for sponsors of children, integrate CBP and HHS information sharing systems, and increase capacity to transport and place children. (As Secretary Johnson noted on June 24th, and we reaffirm today, the Border Patrol and other CBP personnel, as well as personnel from ICE, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and HHS, are doing a remarkable job in difficult circumstances. Not-for-profit groups like the HHS-grantee BCFS<a href="#fn1" name="fn1r" title="BCFS—not an acronym—was formerly known as Baptist Child Family Services." id="fn1r"><sup>1</sup></a> also have stepped in quickly and are doing a remarkable job sheltering the unaccompanied children at Lackland, identifying and then placing them consistent with HHS’ legal obligations. All of these dedicated men and women deserve our recognition, support and gratitude.)</p>
<div style="font-size: 80%;">
<hr style="width: 30%; text-align: left; margin-left: 0px;" /><a href="#fn1r" name="fn1" id="fn1"><sup>1</sup></a> BCFS—not an acronym—was formerly known as Baptist Child Family Services.</div>
<p> </p>
<p><i>Fifth</i>, DHS is building additional detention capacity for adults who cross the border illegally in the RGV with their children. For this purpose DHS established a temporary facility for adults with children on the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center’s campus at Artesia, New Mexico. The establishment of this temporary facility will help CBP process those encountered at the border and allow ICE to increase its capacity to house and expedite the removal of adults with children in a manner that complies with federal law. Artesia is one of several facilities that DHS is considering to increase our capacity to hold and expedite the removal of the increasing number of adults with children illegally crossing the southwest border. DHS will ensure that after apprehension, families are housed in facilities that adequately provide for their safety, security, and medical needs. Meanwhile, we will also expand use of the Alternatives to Detention program to utilize all mechanisms for enforcement and removal in the RGV Sector. DOJ is temporarily reassigning immigration judges to handle the additional caseload via video teleconferencing. These immigration judges will adjudicate these cases as quickly as possible, consistent with all existing legal and procedural standards, including those for asylum applicants following credible fear interviews with embedded DHS asylum officers. Overall, this increased capacity and resources will allow ICE to return unlawful migrants from Central America to their home countries more quickly.</p>
<p><i>Sixth</i>, DHS has brought on more transportation assets to assist in the effort. The Coast Guard is loaning air assets to help transport the children. ICE is leasing additional charter aircraft.</p>
<p><i>Seventh</i>, throughout the RGV Sector, we are conducting public health screening for all those who come into our facilities for any symptoms of contagious diseases or other possible public health concerns. Both DHS and HHS are ensuring that the children’s nutritional and hygienic needs are met while in our custody; that children are provided regular meals and access to drinks and snacks throughout the day; that they receive constant supervision; and that children who exhibit signs of illness or disease are given proper medical care. We have also made clear that all individuals will be treated with dignity and respect, and any instances of mistreatment reported to us will be investigated.</p>
<p><i>Eighth</i>, working through FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center, we are coordinating with voluntary and faith-based organizations to help us manage the influx of unaccompanied children crossing the border. The American Red Cross is providing blankets and other supplies and, through their Restoring Family Links program, is coordinating calls between children in the care of DHS and families anxious about their well-being.</p>
<p><i>Ninth</i>, to stem the tide of children seeking to enter the United States, we have also been in contact with senior government officials of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico to address our shared border security interests, the underlying conditions in Central America that are promoting the mass exodus, and how we can work together to assure faster, secure removal and repatriation. Last month, President Obama spoke with Mexican President Peña Nieto about the situation, as has Secretary Kerry. On June 20th, Vice President Biden also visited Guatemala to meet with regional leaders to address the influx of unaccompanied children and families from Central America and the underlying security and economic issues that are causing this migration. The Vice President announced that the U.S. will be providing a range of new assistance to the region, including $9.6 million in additional funding for Central American governments to receive and reintegrate their repatriated citizens, and a new $40 million U.S. Agency for International Development program in Guatemala over 5 years to improve citizen security. An additional $161.5 million will be provided this year under the Central American Regional Security Initiative to further enable Central American countries to respond to the region’s most pressing security and governance challenges. Secretary Johnson is in Guatemala as we speak. The government of El Salvador has sent additional personnel from its consulate in the U.S. to South Texas to help expedite repatriation to its country.</p>
<p><i>Tenth</i>, DHS, together with DOJ, has added personnel and resources to the investigation, prosecution and dismantling of the smuggling organizations that are facilitating border crossings into the RGV. Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of ICE, is surging 60 additional criminal investigators and support personnel to their San Antonio and Houston offices for this purpose. In May, ICE concluded a month-long, targeted enforcement operation that focused on the logistics networks of human smuggling organizations along the southwest border, with operations in El Paso, Houston, Phoenix, San Antonio, and San Diego that resulted in 163 arrests of smugglers. ICE will continue to vigorously pursue and dismantle these alien smuggling organizations by all investigative means to include the financial structure of these criminal organizations. These organizations not only facilitate illegal migration across our border, they traumatize and exploit the children who are objects of their smuggling operation. We will also continue to work with our partners in Central America and Mexico to help locate, disrupt, and dismantle transnational criminal smuggling networks.</p>
<p><i>Eleventh</i>, we are initiating and intensifying our public affairs campaigns in Spanish, with radio, print, and TV spots, to communicate the dangers of sending unaccompanied children on the long journey from Central America to the United States, and the dangers of putting children into the hands of criminal smuggling organizations.</p>
<p>In collaboration with DHS, the Department of State has launched public awareness campaigns in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, to warn families about the dangers encountered by unaccompanied minors who attempt to travel from Central America to the U.S., and to counter misperceptions that smugglers may be disseminating about immigration benefits in the United States. Our embassies in Central America have collaborated with CBP to ensure both the language and images of the campaign materials would resonate with local audiences. Secretary Johnson has personally issued an open letter (<a href="#letter" name="L1" title="Hyperlink to the open letter" id="L1"><i>see</i> attached</a>) to the parents of those who are sending their children from Central America to the U.S., to be distributed broadly in Spanish and English, to highlight the dangers of the journey, and to emphasize there are no free passes or “permisos” at the other end. We are stressing that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or “DACA,” does not apply to children who arrive now or in the future in the United States, and that, to be considered for DACA, individuals must have continually resided in the U.S. since June 2007. We are making clear that the “earned path to citizenship” contemplated by the Senate bill passed last year would not apply to individuals who cross the border now or in the future; only to those who have been in the country for the last year and a half.</p>
<p><i>Twelfth</i>, given the influx of unaccompanied children in the RGV, we have increased CBP staffing and detailed 115 additional experienced agents from less active sectors to augment operations there. Secretary Johnson is considering sending 150 more Border Patrol agents based on his review of operations there this past week. These additional agents allow RGV the flexibility needed to achieve more interdiction effectiveness and increase CBP’s operational footprint in targeted zones within its area of operations.</p>
<p><i>Thirteenth</i>, in early May, Secretary Johnson directed the development of a Southern Border and Approaches Campaign Planning effort that is putting together a strategic framework to further enhance security of our southern border. Plan development will be guided by specific outcomes and quantifiable targets for border security and will address improved information sharing, continued enhancement and integration of sensors, and unified command and control structures as appropriate. The overall planning effort will also include a subset of campaign plans focused on addressing challenges within specific geographic areas, all with the goal of enhancing our border security.</p>
<p>Finally, we will continue to work closely with Congress on this problem, and keep you informed. DHS is updating Members and staff on the situation in conference calls, and we are facilitating site visits to Border Patrol facilities in Texas and Arizona for a number of Members and their staff.</p>
<p>Secretary Johnson has directed his staff and agency leaders to be forthright in bringing him every conceivable, lawful option for consideration, to address this problem. In cooperation with the other agencies of our government that are dedicating resources to the effort, with the support of Congress, and in cooperation with the governments of Mexico and Central America, we believe we will stem this tide. Thank you.</p>
<h2> </h2>
<hr style="width: 30%; text-align: left; margin-left: 0px;" /><p> </p>
<p><a name="letter" id="letter"> </a></p>
<div style="margin-right: 15%; margin-left: 10%;">
<h2>An open letter to the parents of children crossing our Southwest border</h2>
<p>This year, a record number of children will cross our Southern border illegally into the United States. In the month of May alone, the number of children, unaccompanied by a mother or father, who crossed our southern border reached more than 9,000, bringing the total so far this year to 47,000. The majority of these children come from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, where gang and drug violence terrorize communities. To the parents of these children I have one simple message: Sending your child to travel illegally into the United States is not the solution.</p>
<p>It is dangerous to send a child on the long journey from Central America to the United States. The criminal smuggling networks that you pay to deliver your child to the United States have no regard for his or her safety and well-being – to them, your child is a commodity to be exchanged for a payment. In the hands of smugglers, many children are traumatized and psychologically abused by their journey, or worse, beaten, starved, sexually assaulted or sold into the sex trade; they are exposed to psychological abuse at the hands of criminals. Conditions for an attempt to cross our southern border illegally will become much worse as it gets hotter in July and August.</p>
<p>The long journey is not only dangerous; there are no “permisos,” “permits,” or free passes at the end.</p>
<p>The U.S. Government’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also called “DACA,” does not apply to a child who crosses the U.S. border illegally today, tomorrow or yesterday. To be eligible for DACA, a child must have been in the United States prior to June 15, 2007 – seven years ago.</p>
<p>Also, the immigration reform legislation now before Congress provides for an earned path to citizenship, but only for certain people who came into this country on or before December 31, 2011 – two and one half years ago. So, let me be clear: There is no path to deferred action or citizenship, or one being contemplated by Congress, for a child who crosses our border illegally today.</p>
<p>Rather, under current U.S. laws and policies, anyone who is apprehended crossing our border illegally is a priority for deportation, regardless of age. That means that if your child is caught crossing the border illegally, he or she will be charged with violating United States immigration laws, and placed in deportation proceedings – a situation no one wants. The document issued to your child is not a “permiso,” but a Notice To Appear in a deportation proceeding before an immigration judge.</p>
<p>As the Secretary of Homeland Security, I have seen first-hand the children at our processing center in Texas. As a father, I have looked into the faces of these children and recognized fear and vulnerability.</p>
<p>The desire to see a child have a better life in the United States is understandable. But, the risks of illegal migration by an unaccompanied child to achieve that dream are far too great, and the “permisos” do not exist.</p>
<p>Jeh C. Johnson<br />Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security</p>
</div>
<p> </p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-review-date field-type-datetime field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Review Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2014-07-02T00:00:00-04:00">July 2, 2014</span></div></div></div>Wed, 09 Jul 2014 04:00:00 +0000erik.bugler12346 at http://www.dhs.govWritten testimony of CBP for a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing titled “Crisis on the Texas Border: Surge of Unaccompanied Minors”http://www.dhs.gov/news/2014/07/03/written-testimony-cbp-house-committee-homeland-security-hearing-titled-%E2%80%9Ccrisis-texas
<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-entity-property-field field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Release Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">July 3, 2014</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>McAllen, Texas</p>
<p>Chairman McCaul, Ranking Member Thompson, and Members of the Committee:</p>
<p>Thank you for the opportunity to testify today about U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) efforts to address the recent rise of unaccompanied children and others crossing our border in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). As you know, Secretary Johnson testified on June 24th before the House Committee on Homeland Security about this situation. My testimony today echoes and reaffirms his comments.</p>
<p>We face an urgent situation in the RGV. Last fiscal year, CBP apprehended more than 24,000 unaccompanied children at the border. By mid-June of this fiscal year, that number has doubled to more than 52,000. Those from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras make up about three quarters of that migration.</p>
<p>As Secretary Johnson said on June 24th, this is a humanitarian issue as much as it is a matter of border security. We are talking about large numbers of children, without their parents, who have arrived at our border—hungry, thirsty, exhausted, scared and vulnerable. How we treat the children, in particular, is a reflection of our laws and our values.</p>
<p>Therefore, to address this situation, the Department’s strategy is three-fold: (1) process the increased tide of unaccompanied children through the system as quickly as possible; (2) stem the increased tide of illegal migration into the RGV; and (3) do these things in a manner consistent with our laws and values as Americans.</p>
<p>So, here is what we are doing:</p>
<p><i>First</i>, on May 12th, Secretary Johnson declared a Level IV condition of readiness within DHS, which is a determination that the capacity of CBP and ICE to deal with the situation is full and we need to draw upon additional resources across all of DHS. He appointed Deputy Chief Vitiello to coordinate this effort within DHS.</p>
<p><i>Second</i>, on June 1st, President Obama, consistent with the Homeland Security Act, directed Secretary Johnson to establish a Unified Coordination Group to bring to bear the assets of the entire federal government on the situation. This Group includes DHS and all of its components, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, Justice, State, and the General Services Administration. Secretary Johnson, in turn, designated FEMA Administrator Fugate to serve as the Federal Coordinating Official for the U.S. Government-wide response. Under Administrator Fugate’s supervision, there are now more than 140 interagency personnel and members stationed in FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center dedicated to this effort.</p>
<p><i>Third</i>, we established added capacity to deal with the processing and housing of the children, we are creating additional capacity in places, and we are considering others. To process the increased numbers of unaccompanied children in Texas, DHS has had to bring some of the children to our processing center at Nogales, Arizona before they are transferred to HHS. We are arranging additional processing centers to handle the rise in the RGV. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense (DoD) has provided space at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas for HHS to house the children before HHS can place them. DoD is also providing facilities at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and Ventura, California for the same purpose. DHS and HHS are working to continue to identify additional facilities for DHS and HHS to house and process the influx of children.</p>
<p><i>Fourth</i>, DHS and HHS are increasing Spanish-speaking case management staff, increasing staff handling incoming calls from parents or guardians, raising awareness of the Parent Hotline (provided by FEMA and operated by HHS), surging staff to manage the intake of CBP referrals to track shelter bed capacity, and facilitate shelter designations. We are developing ways to expedite background checks for sponsors of children, integrate CBP and HHS information sharing systems, and increase capacity to transport and place children. (As Secretary Johnson noted on June 24th, the Border Patrol and other CBP personnel, as well as personnel from ICE, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and HHS, are doing a remarkable job in difficult circumstances. Not-for-profit groups like the HHS-grantee BCFS<a href="#fn1" name="fn1r" title="BCFS—not an acronym—was formerly known as Baptist Child Family Services." id="fn1r"><sup>1</sup></a> also have stepped in quickly and are doing a remarkable job sheltering the unaccompanied children at Lackland, identifying and then placing them consistent with HHS’ legal obligations. All of these dedicated men and women deserve our recognition, support and gratitude.)</p>
<div style="font-size: 80%;">
<hr style="width: 30%; text-align: left; margin-left: 0px;" /><a href="#fn1r" name="fn1" id="fn1"><sup>1</sup></a> BCFS—not an acronym—was formerly known as Baptist Child Family Services.</div>
<p> </p>
<p><i>Fifth</i>, DHS is building additional detention capacity for adults who cross the border illegally in the RGV with their children. For this purpose DHS established a temporary facility for adults with children on the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center’s campus at Artesia, New Mexico. The establishment of this temporary facility will help CBP process those encountered at the border and allow ICE to increase its capacity to house and expedite the removal of adults with children in a manner that complies with federal law. Artesia is one of several facilities that DHS is considering to increase our capacity to hold and expedite the removal of the increasing number of adults with children illegally crossing the southwest border. DHS will ensure that after apprehension, families are housed in facilities that adequately provide for their safety, security, and medical needs. Meanwhile, we will also expand use of the Alternatives to Detention program to utilize all mechanisms for enforcement and removal in the RGV Sector. DOJ is temporarily reassigning immigration judges to handle the additional caseload via video teleconferencing. These immigration judges will adjudicate these cases as quickly as possible, consistent with all existing legal and procedural standards, including those for asylum applicants following credible fear interviews with embedded DHS asylum officers. Overall, this increased capacity and resources will allow ICE to return unlawful migrants from Central America to their home countries more quickly.</p>
<p><i>Sixth</i>, DHS has brought on more transportation assets to assist in the effort. The Coast Guard is loaning air assets to help transport the children. ICE is leasing additional charter aircraft.</p>
<p><i>Seventh</i>, throughout the RGV Sector, we are conducting public health screening for all those who come into our facilities for any symptoms of contagious diseases or other possible public health concerns. Both DHS and HHS are ensuring that the children’s nutritional and hygienic needs are met while in our custody; that children are provided regular meals and access to drinks and snacks throughout the day; that they receive constant supervision; and that children who exhibit signs of illness or disease are given proper medical care. We have also made clear that all individuals will be treated with dignity and respect, and any instances of mistreatment reported to us will be investigated.</p>
<p><i>Eighth</i>, working through FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center, DHS is coordinating with voluntary and faith-based organizations to help us manage the influx of unaccompanied children crossing the border. The American Red Cross is providing blankets and other supplies and, through their Restoring Family Links program, is coordinating calls between children in the care of DHS and families anxious about their well-being.</p>
<p><i>Ninth</i>, to stem the tide of children seeking to enter the United States, DHS has also been in contact with senior government officials of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico to address our shared border security interests, the underlying conditions in Central America that are promoting the mass exodus, and how we can work together to assure faster, secure removal and repatriation. Last month, President Obama spoke with Mexican President Peña Nieto about the situation, as has Secretary Kerry. On June 20th, Vice President Biden also visited Guatemala to meet with regional leaders to address the influx of unaccompanied children and families from Central America and the underlying security and economic issues that are causing this migration. The Vice President announced that the U.S. will be providing a range of new assistance to the region, including $9.6 million in additional funding for Central American governments to receive and reintegrate their repatriated citizens, and a new $40 million U.S. Agency for International Development program in Guatemala over 5 years to improve citizen security. An additional $161.5 million will be provided this year under the Central American Regional Security Initiative to further enable Central American countries to respond to the region’s most pressing security and governance challenges. Secretary Johnson will travel to Guatemala on July 8-9. The government of El Salvador has sent additional personnel from its consulate in the U.S. to South Texas to help expedite repatriation to its country.</p>
<p><i>Tenth</i>, DHS, together with DOJ, has added personnel and resources to the investigation, prosecution and dismantling of the smuggling organizations that are facilitating border crossings into the RGV. Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of ICE, is surging 60 additional criminal investigators and support personnel to their San Antonio and Houston offices for this purpose. In May, ICE concluded a month-long, targeted enforcement operation that focused on the logistics networks of human smuggling organizations along the southwest border, with operations in El Paso, Houston, Phoenix, San Antonio, and San Diego that resulted in 163 arrests of smugglers. ICE will continue to vigorously pursue and dismantle these alien smuggling organizations by all investigative means to include the financial structure of these criminal organizations. These organizations not only facilitate illegal migration across our border, they traumatize and exploit the children who are objects of their smuggling operation. We will also continue to work with our partners in Central America and Mexico to help locate, disrupt, and dismantle transnational criminal smuggling networks.</p>
<p><i>Eleventh</i>, we are initiating and intensifying our public affairs campaigns in Spanish, with radio, print, and TV spots, to communicate the dangers of sending unaccompanied children on the long journey from Central America to the United States, and the dangers of putting children into the hands of criminal smuggling organizations.</p>
<p>In collaboration with DHS, the Department of State has launched public awareness campaigns in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, to warn families about the dangers encountered by unaccompanied minors who attempt to travel from Central America to the U.S., and to counter misperceptions that smugglers may be disseminating about immigration benefits in the United States. Our embassies in Central America have collaborated with CBP to ensure both the language and images of the campaign materials would resonate with local audiences. Secretary Johnson has personally issued an open letter (<a href="#letter" name="L1" title="Hyperlink to the open letter" id="L1"><i>see</i> attached</a>) to the parents of those who are sending their children from Central America to the U.S., to be distributed broadly in Spanish and English, to highlight the dangers of the journey, and to emphasize there are no free passes or “permisos” at the other end. The public awareness campaign stresses that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or “DACA,” does not apply to children who arrive now or in the future in the United States, and that, to be considered for DACA, individuals must have continually resided in the U.S. since June 2007. We are making clear that the “earned path to citizenship” contemplated by the Senate bill passed last year would not apply to individuals who cross the border now or in the future; only to those who have been in the country for the last year and a half.</p>
<p><i>Twelfth</i>, given the influx of unaccompanied children in the RGV, we have increased CBP staffing and detailed 115 additional experienced agents from less active sectors to augment operations there. Secretary Johnson is considering sending 150 more Border Patrol agents based on his review of operations there this past week. These additional agents allow RGV the flexibility needed to achieve more interdiction effectiveness and increase CBP’s operational footprint in targeted zones within its area of operations.</p>
<p><i>Thirteenth</i>, in early May, Secretary Johnson directed the development of a Southern Border and Approaches Campaign Planning effort that is putting together a strategic framework to further enhance security of our southern border. Plan development will be guided by specific outcomes and quantifiable targets for border security and will address improved information sharing, continued enhancement and integration of sensors, and unified command and control structures as appropriate. The overall planning effort will also include a subset of campaign plans focused on addressing challenges within specific geographic areas, all with the goal of enhancing our border security.</p>
<p>Finally, we will continue to work closely with Congress on this problem, and keep you informed. DHS is updating Members and staff on the situation in conference calls, and we are facilitating site visits to Border Patrol facilities in Texas and Arizona for a number of Members and their staff.</p>
<p>Secretary Johnson has directed his staff and agency leaders to be forthright in bringing him every conceivable, lawful option for consideration, to address this problem. In cooperation with the other agencies of our government that are dedicating resources to the effort, with the support of Congress, and in cooperation with the governments of Mexico and Central America, we believe we will stem this tide. Thank you.</p>
<h2> </h2>
<hr style="width: 30%; text-align: left; margin-left: 0px;" /><p> </p>
<p><a name="letter" id="letter"> </a></p>
<div style="margin-right: 15%; margin-left: 10%;">
<h2>An open letter to the parents of children crossing our Southwest border</h2>
<p>This year, a record number of children will cross our Southern border illegally into the United States. In the month of May alone, the number of children, unaccompanied by a mother or father, who crossed our southern border reached more than 9,000, bringing the total so far this year to 47,000. The majority of these children come from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, where gang and drug violence terrorize communities. To the parents of these children I have one simple message: Sending your child to travel illegally into the United States is not the solution.</p>
<p>It is dangerous to send a child on the long journey from Central America to the United States. The criminal smuggling networks that you pay to deliver your child to the United States have no regard for his or her safety and well-being – to them, your child is a commodity to be exchanged for a payment. In the hands of smugglers, many children are traumatized and psychologically abused by their journey, or worse, beaten, starved, sexually assaulted or sold into the sex trade; they are exposed to psychological abuse at the hands of criminals. Conditions for an attempt to cross our southern border illegally will become much worse as it gets hotter in July and August.</p>
<p>The long journey is not only dangerous; there are no “permisos,” “permits,” or free passes at the end.</p>
<p>The U.S. Government’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also called “DACA,” does not apply to a child who crosses the U.S. border illegally today, tomorrow or yesterday. To be eligible for DACA, a child must have been in the United States prior to June 15, 2007 – seven years ago.</p>
<p>Also, the immigration reform legislation now before Congress provides for an earned path to citizenship, but only for certain people who came into this country on or before December 31, 2011 – two and one half years ago. So, let me be clear: There is no path to deferred action or citizenship, or one being contemplated by Congress, for a child who crosses our border illegally today.</p>
<p>Rather, under current U.S. laws and policies, anyone who is apprehended crossing our border illegally is a priority for deportation, regardless of age. That means that if your child is caught crossing the border illegally, he or she will be charged with violating United States immigration laws, and placed in deportation proceedings – a situation no one wants. The document issued to your child is not a “permiso,” but a Notice To Appear in a deportation proceeding before an immigration judge.</p>
<p>As the Secretary of Homeland Security, I have seen first-hand the children at our processing center in Texas. As a father, I have looked into the faces of these children and recognized fear and vulnerability.</p>
<p>The desire to see a child have a better life in the United States is understandable. But, the risks of illegal migration by an unaccompanied child to achieve that dream are far too great, and the “permisos” do not exist.</p>
<p>Jeh C. Johnson<br />Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security</p>
</div>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-review-date field-type-datetime field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Review Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2014-07-02T00:00:00-04:00">July 2, 2014</span></div></div></div>Thu, 03 Jul 2014 04:00:00 +0000erik.bugler12345 at http://www.dhs.govWritten testimony of PLCY & CBP for a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Tourism, Competitiveness, and Innovation hearing titled “The State of U.S. Travel and Tourism: Government Efforts to Attract 100 Million Visitors Annually”http://www.dhs.gov/news/2014/06/26/written-testimony-plcy-cbp-senate-commerce-science-and-transportation-subcommittee
<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-entity-property-field field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Release Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">June 26, 2014</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>253 Russell Senate Office Building</p>
<p>Chairman Schatz, Ranking Member Scott and members of the Subcommittee, we are pleased to appear before you today to discuss the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) major travel and tourism initiatives. There is no better area in which to showcase our dual goal of economic and national security than our work to foster and facilitate travel to and within the United States. The U.S. travel and tourism sector is critical to our Nation's prosperity and drives economic growth. Last year international visitors alone supported more than 1.3 million U.S. jobs.</p>
<p>In May 2012, the Administration launched the National Travel and Tourism Strategy for expanding travel to and within the United States with a goal of attracting and welcoming 100 million international visitors annually by the end of 2021. Once achieved, these visitors are estimated to spend $250 billion on an annual basis. Two years later, we are on track to meet that goal. We have made significant progress on specific actions to encourage and make it easier for international travelers to visit the United States while continuing to secure our country.</p>
<p>Today, our testimony will provide an overview of DHS’ innovative efforts to improve the entry process and streamline the experience for international travelers moving through U.S. ports of entry.</p>
<p>Every year, DHS facilitates the travel of tens of millions of international tourists visiting our Nation. The facilitation and security of travel and tourism is a priority for the Department and we are taking concrete steps, working closely with the Department of Commerce, to boost America’s tourism industry. The focus of these efforts is to grow our economy, create more jobs, and continue to secure our country. At DHS, we view effective and efficient security as a contributor to facilitation, and not a barrier. Security measures are vital to protecting travel and tourism from the damaging effects of terrorist or other security incidents. Our goals of national security and economic prosperity are fundamentally intertwined.</p>
<p>DHS programs, such as the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), provide valuable security and facilitation benefits before visitors even travel to the United States. VWP allows citizens of participating countries<a href="#fn1" name="fn1r" title="The 38 countries currently designated for participation in the VWP are: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Chile (joined March 31, 2014), the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. With respect to all references ..." id="fn1r"><sup>1</sup></a> to travel to the United States without a visa for stays of 90 days or less, if they meet all requirements. Visitors traveling to the United States by air or sea and intending to apply for admission in accordance with the VWP must first apply for travel authorization through CBP’s online application system ? Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). Through this process, CBP incorporates targeting and database checks to identify individuals who are ineligible to enter the United States under the VWP and those who may pose an overstay risk, or who may present a national security or criminal threat if allowed to travel. CBP also continuously reviews ESTA applications for new derogatory information to identify persons whose eligibility for entry into the United States has changed since the ESTA authorization was initially approved. The VWP provides eligible low-risk visitors an opportunity to streamline and simplify the travel and admission application process before even arriving at a U.S. port of entry.</p>
<p>Building on a range of earlier travel and tourism promotion activities, DHS and the Department of Commerce started work last month to develop a national goal for improving service levels for international air passenger arrival. As part of this effort, DHS and the Department of Commerce will assess and identify opportunities to reduce the time passengers spend waiting for primary inspection and to fulfill other steps of the arrival process. Specific airport action plans are under development, including actions from both private and public sectors to measurably improve the entry experience.</p>
<p>These goals and action plans will align with and build upon recent successful activities conducted in partnership with international airports, such as improvements at Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Chicago O’Hare (ORD). At these locations, a combination of technology, trusted travel programs, and, at DFW, reimbursable service agreements, reduced wait times by nearly 40 percent on average over 12 months. These efforts reduced the percentage of travelers waiting over 30 minutes by more than half, resulting in a new 15-minute average wait time at DFW and ORD air ports of entry.</p>
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<hr style="width: 30%; text-align: left; margin-left: 0px;" /><a href="#fn1r" name="fn1" id="fn1"><sup>1</sup></a> The 38 countries currently designated for participation in the VWP are: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Chile (joined March 31, 2014), the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. With respect to all references to “country” or “countries” in this document, it should be noted that the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, Pub. L. No. 96-8, Section 4(b)(1), provides that “[w]henever the laws of the United States refer or relate to foreign countries, nations, states, governments, or similar entities, such terms shall include and such laws shall apply with respect to Taiwan.” 22 U.S.C. § 3303(b)(1).</div>
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<h2>Improving the Entry Process</h2>
<p>Since 2009, we have experienced remarkable growth in international travel to the United States with total passenger volumes in our airports rising approximately four percent each year. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2013, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) processed more than 362 million passengers in the land, sea, and air environments, welcoming a record 102 million air travelers. Travel and tourism are absolutely vital to our economy, and according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, in 2013, one new American job was created for every 73 travelers arriving from overseas.</p>
<p>Our greatest asset in both securing and facilitating these immense volumes of international travelers is our dedicated workforce. Thanks to the support of Congress, funding for 2,000 new CBP officers was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014.<a href="#fn2" name="fn2r" title="Pub. L. No. 113-76" id="fn2r"><sup>2</sup></a> The 2,000 will be allocated utilizing CBP’s Workload Staffing Model (WSM) and directed to the ports with the greatest need for additional officers. They will enhance security, help reduce wait times, and facilitate growing volumes of legitimate goods and travelers that are critical to the health of our Nation’s economy. We are pleased to report that the job opportunity announcement for these positions opened on May 2, 2014 and we are poised to hire all 2,000 by the end of FY 2015. It is important to note that this is a good down payment, but unfortunately, no port of entry will be “made whole” with this allocation. CBP will continue to pursue transformation efforts, new reimbursement authorities, and partnerships with our stakeholders. The President’s FY 2015 Budget request calls for user fee increases that would fund an additional 2,000 CBP officers.</p>
<p>The extent to which wait times affect the local and national economy was most recently studied by the National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE), a DHS Center of Excellence. CREATE issued “The Impact on the U.S. Economy of Changes in Wait Times at Ports of Entry”<a href="#fn2" name="fn3r" title="“The Impact on the U.S. Economy of Changes in Wait Times at Ports of Entry,” National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE), University of Southern California, released April 4, 2013 (dated March 31, 2013)." id="fn3r"><sup>3</sup></a> in March 2013. Their analysis of 17 major passenger land crossing ports of entry (POE), 12 major freight crossing POEs, and 4 major passenger airport POEs, found that an increase or decrease in staffing at the ports of entry has an impact on wait times and, therefore, on the U.S. economy. More specifically, adding a single CBP Officer at each of the just 33 studied border crossings equates to annual benefits of: $2 million increase in Gross Domestic Product; $640,000 saved in opportunity costs; and 33 jobs added to the economy.</p>
<p>To further facilitate rising volumes of international travel, streamline entry processes, and improve the international traveler’s experience, DHS is partnering with private industry, leveraging advanced technology, and expanding voluntary trusted traveler programs and international initiatives.</p>
<p><i>Partnering with Private Industry </i></p>
<p>DHS will continue to work closely with industry to learn from their expertise, engage on best practices, and identify new opportunities to improve our operations. We are taking a fresh look at the entry process and looking for new ways to create an easier and more welcoming entry experience for visitors to the United States. It is only through strong partnership and cooperation that we can realize the full benefit of innovation and our mutual goal of facilitating travel to the United States. The significant improvements realized in DFW and ORD exemplify what can be accomplished through this type of public-private collaboration.</p>
<p>Another example of DHS’ efforts to leverage private sector expertise is the Loaned Executive Program. This program brings government and industry expertise together to support efforts that promote the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and CBP-led travel and tourism goals. Last month, DHS announced the opening of six assignments under the Loaned Executive Program for private sector leaders to support the Department’s travel and tourism initiatives. We want to leverage the private sector’s best talent to improve the travel experience for the American public and those who we welcome as visitors to our country. Private sector integration in the development of our policies and processes ensures a coordinated approach to identifying innovative solutions to our homeland security challenges. We look forward to the input from these experts as we work to transform operations at our airports.</p>
<p>DHS is also working to develop stronger metrics to measure our progress in improving customer service at air ports of entry. CBP recently hosted a meeting with dozens of travel industry stakeholders to begin to define metrics for an entire range of customer service processes and procedures. Our intention is to develop national goals and effective measurements for improved service levels that consider a variety of factors such as wait times, volume of travelers, economic benefits of tourism, and enforcement statistics.</p>
<p><i>Using Technology to Automate and Streamline </i></p>
<p>CBP staffing levels have not kept pace with increases in both trade and travel since 2009, resulting in increased wait times and service levels at many ports of entry. CBP developed and implemented the Resource Optimization Strategy (ROS) to ensure the efficient use of staffing and other resources. The ROS has three main components: (1) optimize current business processes through Business Transformation Initiatives (BTIs); (2) identify staffing requirements accurately through the WSM; and (3) explore alternative funding strategies to increase revenue sources supporting staffing.</p>
<p>In addition, CBP continues to transform border processing operations by implementing and optimizing innovative solutions based on operational need. A hallmark of CBP’s efforts to modernize the travel process is the expansion of Automated Passport Control (APC), which enables eligible air travelers to complete the administrative portion of their processing at a kiosk, reducing overall inspection time from approximately 55 seconds to 30 seconds – a savings of over 60,000 inspectional hours through FY 2015. APC kiosks also increase security by allowing officers to focus on the passenger instead of paperwork. In the past year, 15 airports purchased and deployed this streamlining technology, and there are plans for another 10 to join by the end of the year. A number of these airports, including John F. Kennedy International Airport, Orlando International Airport, ORD, and DFW, have experienced reductions in average wait times of 30 percent or more after APC kiosks have been installed.</p>
<p>To increase efficiency, reduce operating costs and streamline the admissions process, CBP has automated Form I-94, DHS Arrival/Departure Record, for foreign visitors arriving at air and sea ports of entry. CBP now gathers travelers’ arrival and departure information automatically from their electronic travel records, making the entry process easier and faster for travelers as well as increasing security and reducing federal costs. CBP estimates the automated process will save the agency $15.5 million per year in administrative costs and over $10 million in salaries and expenses through the savings of 80 CBP Officers through FY 2015.</p>
<p><i>Trusted Traveler and Expedited Screening Programs </i></p>
<p>Identifying and separating low-risk travelers from those who may require additional scrutiny is a key element in DHS’s efforts to facilitate and secure international travel. DHS has increased the enrollment and usage of trusted traveler programs that are essential to our risk-based approach to facilitating the flow of travelers into the United States. CBP’s trusted traveler programs, such as SENTRI, NEXUS, and Global Entry, provide expedited processing upon arrival in the United States for pre-approved, low-risk participants through the use of secure and exclusive lanes and automated kiosks. At the end of 2013, more than 2 million people had access to CBP’s Trusted Traveler Programs ? a nearly 60 percent increase from the previous year. These trusted traveler programs have reduced CBP’s resource requirements by over 70 CBP officers. Global Entry is available for eligible participants at 47 airports. Travelers using Global Entry kiosks now account for 10 percent of all international air arrivals on the busiest travel day of the week.</p>
<p>CBP has also partnered with TSA to extend TSA Pre✓™ benefits to our trusted travelers. TSA Pre✓™ is a voluntary prescreening process used to perform risk-assessments on passengers prior to their arrival at the airport. These programs are a valuable contribution to the efficient processing of travelers. They enable TSA and CBP to focus resources on the small percentage of passengers warranting additional scrutiny, while expediting the screening and processing for known and trusted travelers. Today, TSA is providing expedited screening to more than 5 million travelers each week, and over 40 percent each day at 118 domestic airports in partnership with participating U.S. air carriers and CBP.</p>
<p>DHS also announced recently that travelers flying on Air Canada may be eligible to receive expedited security screening through TSA Pre✓™ when flying out of participating U.S. airports. With this announcement, Air Canada becomes the first international carrier to partner with DHS and offer its customers advanced security screening that is the hallmark of TSA Pre✓™. We are working closely with other international air carriers and expect to announce similar partnerships later this year. Expanding the TSA Pre✓™ initiative to international carriers that have a significant presence at U.S. airports has been a long-term goal of our risk-based and intelligence-driven approach to aviation security.</p>
<p><i>International Initiatives </i></p>
<p>Since the formation of DHS in 2003, we have collaborated with our international partners to push security measures out beyond our domestic ports of entry. These effective security programs also provide valuable facilitation benefits to international travelers. We believe that new initiatives should offer a net security benefit — that is, any measure proposed should do more than merely displace the risk from one location to another. This is why we firmly believe that establishing preclearance operations in strategic areas will assist in identifying terrorists, criminals, and other national security threats prior to boarding aircraft bound for the United States. We recognize the benefits private-public partnerships bring to the preclearance business plan. We intend to establish more of these at overseas airports that are last points of departure for flights into the United States. Each proposed location for expansion is reviewed carefully to ensure the operation would be cost effective and provide positive returns with regards to a wide spectrum of U.S. interests.</p>
<p>Expansion of preclearance will positively impact the overall traveler experience by reducing wait times at both CBP and TSA U.S. domestic air ports of entry and provide economic opportunities to air carriers and tourism stakeholders.</p>
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<hr style="width: 30%; text-align: left; margin-left: 0px;" /><a href="#fn2r" name="fn2" id="fn2"><sup>2</sup></a> Pub. L. No. 113-76<br /><a href="#fn3r" name="fn2" id="fn2"><sup>3</sup></a> “The Impact on the U.S. Economy of Changes in Wait Times at Ports of Entry,” National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE), University of Southern California, released April 4, 2013 (dated March 31, 2013).</div>
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<h2>Improving and Streamlining the Traveler Experience</h2>
<p>First impressions are important. A foreign visitor’s first and primary encounter with the U.S. Government is often with the Departments of State and Homeland Security, and these interactions shape visitors’ opinions about the United States. DHS and our travel industry partners have worked together to improve processes for welcoming travelers into our country while maintaining the highest levels of security and professionalism.</p>
<p>In February 2011, CBP launched a new comprehensive basic training program for new officers. The program prepares trainees mentally, physically, and ethically to meet the challenges and demands of a law enforcement position and equips them with the specific skills needed to perform their duties with a high level of competence. CBP has taken a proactive management approach in addressing passenger processing issues and is constantly working in partnership with airport authorities, airlines, and the travel industry to identify new ways to more efficiently facilitate the entry process.</p>
<p>Our commitment to improving customer service also led to the development of the Model Ports program. Created in 2006, the Model Ports program focuses on making the entry process more streamlined, understandable, and welcoming. One of the best practices of the Model Ports program is the establishment of the Passenger Service Manager (PSM) position, a key advocate for promoting traveler satisfaction. The PSM is a uniformed CBP manager able to respond to traveler complaints or concerns; oversee issues related to travelers requiring special processing; observe overall traveler processing; address issues on site as they occur; and provide recommendations for improvement of traveler processing and professionalism. Photographs and contact information for all PSMs are prominently displayed for maximum traveler visibility and access and will be available at over 300 ports of entry this year.</p>
<p>To increase effective communication with arriving travelers, CBP previously installed audio and video technology in the passport primary queuing area to display CBP’s informational video, “Welcome to the United States ‘Simple as 1, 2, 3’,” which presents travelers with step-by-step instructions on what to expect during CBP processing. The video is subtitled in eight languages and is seen by over 25 million visitors each year. CBP is currently updating this technology and videos to educate travelers on how to use APC kiosks. CBP is also partnering with the airlines to show these new, educational products on planes where possible.</p>
<p><i>Reducing Wait Times </i></p>
<p>CBP strives to process arriving travelers, regardless of the port environment, as quickly as possible while maintaining the highest standards of security, and we closely monitor wait times for international travelers.</p>
<p>Although CBP continues to address ways to manage wait times, other issues affect wait times, including concurrent arrivals that exceed the capacity of the airport and the need to staff multiple terminals. CBP is working to address these challenges by using existing resources more effectively, partnering with carriers and airport authorities on facilitation measures, and enhancing risk segmentation by increasing membership in trusted traveler programs.</p>
<p>The Airport Wait Time Console is used to report on primary processing passenger wait times at the top 63 air ports of entry. This data is based on measurements of time intervals between the arrival of the aircraft and the processing of the passenger on primary. The wait time for each arriving passenger is recorded, and aggregates of these wait times may be obtained based on the individual flight, class of admission, time of day, or any other data element associated with an arriving air passenger. CBP reports wait times on our public website, and we continue to refine the reporting.</p>
<p>The Airport Wait Time Console Real Time Flightboard utilizes live data feeds from multiple sources to create a view of passenger arrival data that allows CBP Field Operations personnel to make optimal staffing decisions. By taking into account such factors as aircraft arrival time and facility constraints, as well as passenger volume and admission class, CBP management at our air ports of entry are able to foresee how changes in any of the elements will require corresponding adjustments to staffing.</p>
<p><i>Partnership with Brand USA </i></p>
<p>In support of efforts to expand legitimate travel and tourism to the United States, DHS works with The Corporation for Travel Promotion, doing business as Brand USA. The Corporation for Travel Promotion, established under the Travel Promotion Act of 2009, is a public-private marketing entity that encourages travelers from all over the world to visit the United States.<a href="#fn4" name="fn4r" title="Pub. L. No. 111-145, § 9" id="fn4r"><sup>4</sup></a> CBP works closely with Brand USA to promote CBP programs such as the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) and Global Entry and to identify ways of improving the traveler experience at U.S. ports of entry based on feedback from the customer satisfaction survey.</p>
<p>The experience of an international arrival passenger at one of our ports of entry is not limited to their interaction with the U.S. government. CBP has made significant investments in improving the international arrivals process for both security and facilitation. Airports, airlines, and local governments also figure heavily into the passenger’s experience — and they all have an essential role to play in creating a positive first impression.</p>
<p>DHS is working to foster and facilitate a thriving travel and tourism industry, while maintaining the highest security standards. DHS continues to welcome the input and engagement of Congress, the private sector and the traveling public to pursue our mission in an increasingly innovative, efficient, and effective way.</p>
<p>Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. We look forward to answering your questions.</p>
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<hr style="width: 30%; text-align: left; margin-left: 0px;" /><a href="#fn4r" name="fn4" id="fn4"><sup>4</sup></a> Pub. L. No. 111-145, § 9</div>
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</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-review-date field-type-datetime field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Review Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2014-06-25T00:00:00-04:00">June 25, 2014</span></div></div></div>Thu, 26 Jun 2014 04:00:00 +0000erik.bugler12315 at http://www.dhs.gov